Photo : Wikimedia Commons
Villa et Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild
The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, also called Villa Île-de-France, is a Renaissance-style palace built between 1905 and 1912 on the summit of Cap Ferrat, at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Alpes-Maritimes), for Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild (1864–1934). It overlooks both the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer and that of Beaulieu.
Inside, the collections reflect the taste of its owner: Savonnerie carpets, Gobelins tapestries, Meissen, Vincennes and Sèvres porcelain, paintings by Fragonard and Boucher, ceilings attributed to Tiepolo, as well as a Far Eastern art room.
The gardens form a set of several themed gardens: Spanish, Florentine, lapidary, Japanese, exotic, Provençal, rose garden and French garden, animated with musical fountains. The baroness had imagined her estate as the prow of a ship.
In 1934, Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild bequeathed the villa and its gardens to the Académie des beaux-arts, in memory of her father Alphonse, a member of the Academy. The place has been open to the public since 1937. It is listed as a historic monument and bears the "Remarkable Garden" label.
