Trois-Rods

Origin of the name Trois-Rods

Name origin: the name is formed from the Latin prefix « trans » and the Celtic « rodo »; it describes the position of the place, « au delà du passage à gué » (beyond the ford), on the Areuse, in connection with the path climbing to Rochefort.

Founding of Trois-Rods

Trois-Rods is a hamlet in the municipality of Boudry, set above the small town on the first slopes of the Jura, at the mouth of the Areuse gorges. The site was only inhabited from the 16th century. No founder is known; the first recorded owners are Nicolas Verdonnet, who bought a house there in 1559, and Jacques Vallier, who rebuilt it in 1606-1611. In 1768 Jean-Frédéric de Pierre acquired the estate and had the present château built as his summer residence.

History of Trois-Rods

16th century. The site begins to be inhabited.

1559. Nicolas Verdonnet buys a house at Trois-Rods.

1606-1611. Jacques Vallier rebuilds the house.

1768. Jean-Frédéric de Pierre acquires the estate and has the present château built, making it his summer residence.

1855. Conversion of the château's outbuildings.

1859. Construction of the eleven-arch dressed-stone viaduct over the Areuse on the Neuchâtel-Yverdon-les-Bains railway line.

1901. Further conversion of the outbuildings, with the construction of two annexes.

1913-1914. The architect Maurice Künzi builds a power station for the electricity service of the City of Neuchâtel, with a reservoir, a balancing pond and a penstock.

2008. Trois-Rods is recorded in the ISOS inventory as a special case, a rural ensemble with a château, largely spared from suburban housing.

Historic sites in Trois-Rods

Château de Trois-Rods. Summer residence of Jean-Frédéric de Pierre, rebuilt around 1768 in sober classical architecture, laid out around a rectangular courtyard and extended by a large pleasure garden on three terraces linked by stairs.

Areuse viaduct. Imposing 1859 viaduct with eleven dressed-stone arches, the widest of which, in the centre, spans the Areuse.

Power station. Power station built in 1913-1914 by Maurice Künzi for the City of Neuchâtel at the mouth of the gorges.

Farmhouses. Row of four adjoining farmhouses and a farmhouse of the 18th and 19th centuries; together with Areuse and Grandchamp, Trois-Rods retains the charm of the Neuchâtel villages of that period.

Sources

• Inventaire fédéral ISOS, « Trois-Rods » (février 2008)
• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Boudry » (Germain Hausmann)
• Commune de Boudry, « Patrimoine »
• Commune de Boudry, « Géographie »
• État de Neuchâtel, arrêté du 4 février 2026 homologuant le recensement cantonal de la population au 31 décembre 2025
• geo.admin.ch, service de recherche de lieux (swisstopo)

Other villages near Trois-Rods

• Bôle (NE)
• Boudry (NE)
• Perreux (NE)
• Chambrelien (NE)
• Areuse (NE)