AMB Cote d'Azur

Inside Ile de France
Her palazzino was a succession of richly decorated salons and private apartments; the atmosphere recalling Florence, Ravenna and Venice, with rose marble columns from Verona and a touch of Spain with patios. The villa was adorned with artwork ranging from the late Middle Ages to the early Renaissance, as well as paintings by Renoir, Sisley and Monet. Flemish tapestries and 16th and 17th century furniture further embellished the villa. As money was no problem she'd try, whenever possible, to purchase the object of her desire. However if that failed she'd then have it replicated, as was the case of the stairway leading up to her bedroom (repositioned now for show on the ground floor), which is an exact copy of the staircase in the Saint-Maclou Cathedral in Rouen.

Many grand fêtes and balls were held in these sumptuous rooms with such dignitaries as the Prince of Monaco, the Duke of Eboli Doria of Naples, the Princess Ghika, the Count and Countess of Brémond d'Ars, the Grand-ducs of Russia. The rooms were stunning: the Salon Louis XV with its great Aubusson carpet; the Salon Fragonard with its 18th century antiques and paintings by Honoré Fragonard; the Salon des Singeries, where Huet’s paintings of monkeys replaced the chinoiseries so fashionalbe at the time; the Salon des Tapisseries with its Jacob furnishings and rare commodes; and the Salon d’Art d’Etrême-Orient with its gold and lacquered doors from the Imperial Palace of Peking and other treasures from the Far East.

The former apartments of Monsieur Ephrussi now contain one of the finest collections of porcelain in the world, including rare pieces from la Manufacture de Sèvres and that of Vincennes. In another room, connoisseurs will appreciate Dresden china and delicate porcelain items from Berlin, Würtzbourg and Meissen, most of them still set on their original plinths.

If she was exacting with the villa, Charlotte-Béatrice was equally so with the layout and planting of her gardens, calling in several renowned landscape gardeners, such as Richard Wallace, Aaron Messiah and Achille Duchêne, until she was satisfied with the layout. When palm trees were required as part of the overall design, she depleted the entire stock belonging to Hickel Frères, a German horticulturist established in Beaulieu. Such were the weight and size of these trees (thirty in all) that they required the harnessing of six horses to deliver each one.

Her plan was to create a three-dimentional Italian-Florentine garden so that from any point of her villa or bedroom balcony she'd be able to see the stunning views of Villefranche and St Jean harbours through the different "layers" of garden. She also created a pretty English rose garden, as well as having an exact replica of the Trianon in Versailles and its beautiful Temple of Love positioned at the far end of the park.

After spending so much time, money and effort creating this remarkable place, it is sad to learn she spent little time there, preferring the roulette tables of Monte-Carlo and her home "Villa Rose de France" or her suite at the Hôtel de Paris located next door to the casino; upon the death of her husband in 1916 she finally lost all interest in the villa. She died in 1934 at the age of 75, bequeathing it to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, a section of the Institut de France, on condition that the villa would remain intact and left as it was during her lifetime.

However, her garden was abandoned for many years and left to its own devices, until Louis Marchand, a landscape gardener, took it over and rethought the entire domain. Regardless of what many guide books might say, we actually owe the implantation of the French garden in front of the villa to him, as well as the prolongation and broadening of the canal towards the Temple of Love and the creation of the Spanish, Lapidary, Japanese and Exotic gardens.