 Taking advantage of the provision about leaving undisturbed previously-existing buildings bisected by the new boundary, coupled with the delay in ratification by the Swiss Parliament, he hurriedly erected a three-story structure in a location that would straddle the border, with approximately one-third in what would become Swiss territory, and the remaining two-thirds in France.Hoping to take advantage of the new cross-border traffic, he opened a grocery store in the Swiss portion of the building and a bar in the French section.By 1921 Ponthus' heirs had fallen on hard times, and the building was sold to Jules-Jean Arbeze, who remodeled it and reopened it as a hotel.