This paper is a study of Le Corbusier's trace regulateur of the 1920s, particularly its role in the design of the Villas La Roche-Jeanneret and Stein-de Monzie. It proceeds on the basis of the following three themes: first, the relation between the regulating line and the dom-ino frame; second, its status as a proportional device based not on a module system but one that defines relations; third, its function as an essential practical device in the design process. In the Villa La Roche-Jeanneret, the embedded horizontal planes of the dom-ino frame were constant, but the vortical lines of the columns were altered according to the changes in plan. Initially, a left-hand bay window formed a symmetry with the right-hand bay window, the only constant in the design process. With subsequent changes, mullion sections of the horizontal window and roof elements came to provide the reference points for the regulating line. Eventually, a regulating line different from the one that controlled the bay window and the elongated volume came to control the entrance hall of Villa La Roche, resulting in three different kinds of regulating lines in the final version. In contrast to the Villa La Roche-Jeanneret, a singular and consistent regulation line was anticipated in the earliest design stages of the Villa Stein-de Monzie. The repetition of its A:B grid and the standard $2.5m{\times}1.0m$ sliding window determined the proportions of both its plan and elevation, and thus the regulating line became 'automatic,' losing its viability as a practical tool. Though the regulating titles of the La Roche-Jeanneret look as if they were an afterthought, drawn after the design was complete, they were most active, requiring tenacity and discipline in their application. On the other hand, the seemingly 'redundant' regulating line of the Villa Stein-de Monzie gains its raison d'etre from the dom-ino frame. Its cantilevers and uninterrupted horizontal window could be used in decisive fashion because of the guarantee that the correct proportion would always be maintained. Thus we discover that Le Corbusier's discipline of the 1920s had a certain spectrum of flexibility. His 'parti' ranged from the extremely loose and malleable grid of the Villa La Roche-Jeanneret to the fixed grid of the Villa Stein-de Monzie. In different ways, these projects retain the tension between the dom-ino frame and the regulating line. For Le Corbusier, as much as the grid was an object with fixed attributes, it was also an active medium manipulated by the will of the architect.