Villa Noailles
written by azurblue
on May 9th, 2008
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In 1924, one of the most daring and influential patrons of the arts, Charles and Marie Laure de Noailles commissioned the architect Robert Mallet Stevens to build the Villa Noailles in Hyères in the South of France.
It was the first architectural realization of Mallet Stevens: a geometric villa of concrete, with terraces and hanging gardens.
The viscount Charles elaborated his first Mediterranean garden around the villa. At one extremity of the villa, the Armenian artist Gabriel Guévréjian created a cubist garden: a triangle filled with concrete, plants and colored glass, which looked like the bow of a ship.
The couple invited there the whole European Avant Garde: from Cocteau to Russian Ballets, from Man Ray who made his film “Les mystères du Château de Dé” there in 1929 to Luis Bunuel who wrote the script of “L’âge d’or”. When the viscountess died in the villa, it was abandoned.
The city of Hyères bought it in 1973 and totally renovated it. It is now a center of arts with exhibitions of photography and architecture, and a fashion festival takes place in April.
How to get there: by train (Paris-Toulon), or by car.
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