Great Homes of the World: Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild
While the 20th-century villa commissioned by Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi, née de Rothschild, of the Rothschild banking family, is impressive as an icon of neoclassical architecture, the nine themed gardens that spread from the back of the mansion toward the Mediterranean Sea are equally awe-inspiring.
Ephrussi, born into great wealth, grew up in both an opulent Parisian palace and a countryside chateau owned by her socialite family. Her family collected fine art, and she was surrounded by the finest interiors and artwork during her formative years. After her marriage and divorce from Parisian banker Maurice Ephrussi, she built her dream home in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France, in the heart of the French Riviera on a rocky outcropping covered with trees and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
She commissioned French architect Aaron Messiah to design the villa. While he was the court architect for King Leopold II of Belgium, his most famous work was Villa Ephrussi, where he synthesized the baroness’ eclectic art collections into a cohesive design. Inspired by the classical style of Greek and Roman architecture, the villa’s neoclassical design is appropriate for the architectural influences that swept France, Italy and Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries. It combines touches of Italian Renaissance features, such as harmonious proportions, frescoes and expansive loggias, with Gothic elements such as the central entrance porch.
Begun in 1907, construction was completed in 1912. In true Rothschild fashion, Madame Ephrussi filled the mansion with the finest antiques from each era, paintings from the Old Masters, sculptures, rare porcelain, and other art objects. She included noteworthy antique furnishings, such as a circa 1770 gaming table created by master cabinetmaker René Dubois that was originally commissioned by Marie Antoinette. Ephrussi incorporated some of her late father’s rare finds, including a set of 1700s porcelain, gilt bronze, and gold vases. These artistic treasures are still part of the restored mansion and can be viewed by visitors today.
She hired landscape architect Achille Duchêne, who was always in high demand by French high society, to create and oversee the installation of nine themed gardens behind the villa. Duchêne is credited with creating 6,000 gardens worldwide; his other notable garden designs include Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte near Paris and California’s Carolands, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
For this villa, Duchêne’s overall idea was that the gardens would surround the home in the form of a ship, which could be viewed from the back of the home’s loggia, along with the ocean on all sides of the gardens. Once installed, 30 gardeners dressed as sailors maintained the gardens. The French garden, which was the largest and was directly behind the villa, led to eight other gardens that stepped down from there: Spanish garden, Florentine garden, stone garden, Japanese garden, exotic garden, Provençal garden, and rose garden. The gardens featured fountains, statues and water basins, including a replica of the Temple of Love at the Petit Trianon at the Palace of Versailles. The Japanese garden had a wooden pavilion and bridge, while the exotic garden featured rare plants and giant cacti. Wrought iron was used extensively on the exterior and throughout the gardens; for example, the Venetian well in the north courtyard combines Verona marble and wrought iron.
When Ephrussi died in 1934, she left the villa and gardens to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, along with more than 5,000 works of art in the mansion. The organization still maintains the villa and gardens and opens it to visitors. In the spirit of Madame Ephrussi’s love of art, The Académie holds an annual Painters’ Day each June to welcome artists to come to the gardens and practice their skills.
