Chanel returns to its roots. French fashion house purchased Gabrielle Chanel’s villa La Pausa in the south of France. In the late 1920s, famous designer purchased a piece of land in the Roquebrune-Cap-Martin commune, which overlooks the sea. She reportedly spent several million Francs on the project (a large sum of money at the time) to built and decorate a perfect retreat for herself and her lover, the Duke of Westminster. Beside the Duke, Chanel hosted her friends, artists, musicians, and writers Igor Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Paul Iribe, Salvador Dalí and Luchino Visconti.
Gabrielle Chanels Villa La Pausa
The construction of the seven-bedroom detached villa was largely inspired by Aubazine, the 12th Century orphanage where Chanel spent her childhood. Clusters of windows in numbers of five are repeated throughout the house in tribute to Coco’s hugely successful perfume, Chanel No.5. The property also has two small villas for guests.
Chanel sold the villa, fully furnished, in 1954 after the death of the Duke of Westminster.
Gabrielle Chanels Villa La Pausa
The property was sold to Emery Reves, an American writer and publisher, where he continued to bring life to the villa by receiving his notable friends such as Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at this residence.
La Pausa is to be renovated in the spirit of its origins.
