The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, also called Villa Île-de-France, is a French seaside

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

located at

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (; oc, Sant Joan de Cap Ferrat; Italian: ''San Giovanni Capo Ferrato'') is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 1,573 ...

on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

. Designed by the French architect

Aaron Messiah Aaron Messiah (1858–1940) was an early 20th-century French architect. Messiah was court architect to Leopold II of Belgium, but his most famous work was the Villa Ephrussi, completed in 1912. At this southern French villa, Messiah succe ...

, it was built between 1907 and 1912 by Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild (1864–1934). A member of the Rothschild banking family and the wife of the banker Baron Maurice de Ephrussi, Béatrice de Rothschild built her rose-colored villa on a promontory on the isthmus of Cap Ferrat overlooking the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The Baroness filled the mansion with antique furniture, Old Master paintings,

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s, '' objets d'art'' and assembled an extensive collection of rare

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

. The gardens are classified by the Ministry of Culture as one of the

Remarkable Gardens of France The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the more than three hundred gardens classified as ''"Jardins remarquables"'' by the Ministry of Culture (France), Ministry of Culture and the Comi ...

, whilst the villa itself has been classified as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' since 1996. Upon her death in 1934, the Baroness donated the property and its collections to the Académie des Beaux-Arts division of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

. It is now open to the public.

Gardens

The villa is surrounded by nine gardens, each on a different theme:

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Spanish, Japanese, Florentine,

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

exotic Exotic may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Exotic R4, a differentiable 4-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4 * Exotic sphere, a differentiable ''n''-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordina ...

, a

stone garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small A ...

, a rose garden and a garden of Sèvres. They were created between 1905 and 1912 under the direction of landscape architect Achille Duchêne. The garden was conceived in the form of a ship, to be viewed from the loggia of the house, which was like the bridge of a vessel, with the sea visible on all sides. It was inspired by a voyage she made on the liner '' Île de France'', and the villa was given that name. The thirty gardeners who maintained the garden were dressed as sailors, with berets with red

pom-pom A pom-pom – also spelled pom-pon, pompom or pompon – is a decorative ball or tuft of fibrous material. The term may refer to large tufts used by Cheerleading, cheerleaders, or a small, tighter ball attached to the top of a hat, al ...

2006 Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild - Temple of Love

The garden ''à la française'' is the largest and occupies the area behind the villa. Next to the villa there is a terrace with a formal French garden and

topiaries Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

. Beyond the terrace is a park with palm trees and a long basin, ornamented with fountains, statues, and basins with water lilies and other aquatic plants. On the far end of the park is a hill covered with cypress trees, surrounding a replica garden of the Temple of Love at the

Petit Trianon The Petit Trianon (; French for "small Trianon") is a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. T ...

palace in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. The slope below the temple has a cascade of water in the form of a stairway, which feeds into the large basin. A stairway from the French garden descends to the circle of gardens on the lower level. The Spanish garden features a shaded courtyard and fountain, with aromatic plants, Catalan amphorae, as well as a Gallo-Roman bench. The Florentine garden, facing the rade of

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; oc, Vilafranca de Mar ; it, Villafranca Marittima ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located south-west of the Principality of ...

, has a grand stairway, an artificial grotto and an ''ephebe'' of marble. Beyond the Florentine garden is the lapidary, or stone garden, with an assortment of gargoyles, columns and other architectural elements from ancient and medieval buildings. The Japanese garden has a wooden pavilion, a bridge and lanterns. The exotic garden features giant cactus and other rare plants. A rose garden with a statue surrounded by columns adjoins it, where pink, the favorite color of the owner, is the predominant colour. On the east side of the villa is a garden of native plants of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and a garden with decorations of Sèvres porcelain. The villa was registered as a historical monument in 1996.

Events

Every year the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild puts on ''The Painters' Day'' in June. The villa opens its doors to the artists who want to find their inspiration and practise their art in one of the nine gardens of the site.Villa Ephrussi Events
The villa is also the location of the annual summer opera festival Les Opera Azuriales. Image:Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild 16.jpg, The stone garden Image:884 VER9010.JPG, The fountains and the Temple of Love Image:VIlla Ephrussi Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat 1.jpg, Entrance Image:Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild BW 2011-06-10 10-52-12.jpg, The Spanish garden Image:Gardens of the villa ephrussi rothschild 005.jpg, The formal garden

References

External links

Official website of Villa Ephrussi

Photo collection of Villa Ephrussi

{{Authority control Houses in Alpes-Maritimes Gardens in Alpes-Maritimes Ephrussi de Rothschild French Riviera Historic house museums in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Museums in Alpes-Maritimes Rose gardens in France Houses completed in 1912 Ephrussi family Rothschild family residences Monuments historiques of Alpes-Maritimes 1912 establishments in France

Gardens

Events

See also

References

External links