The hamlet of Ecogia has a long history. One of its attractions is a spring used by the Romans to supply an aqueduct that carried water to a villa located on the site of the present-day Versoix railway station.

The name "Adesgogia" was first mentioned on a document dating from 1022. There are many theories about its etymology. The linguist Ferdinand de Saussure suggested that it came from the Latin "ad" ("near") and "esgogia", a derivative of "exagitare" ("to gush forth") - a clear allusion to the spring.

The Latin inscription "Hic sitiens viator - vinum non acqua plus quam" ("Stop here, thirsty traveller - no wine tastes better than this water") can be found on the stone basin that was built around the spring in 1824.

The building, which dates back to the eighteenth century, was taken over by a semi-religious order in 1881 and turned into an orphanage. In July 1993, after the order put an end to its activities, the estate was bought by the municipality of Versoix, which it put at the ICRC's disposal in June 1999.