Penthouse Atop a French Riviera Hotel that Hosted Ernest Hemingway to Coco Chanel Lists for €40 Million - Kanebridge News
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Penthouse Atop a French Riviera Hotel that Hosted Ernest Hemingway to Coco Chanel Lists for €40 Million

The former Hôtel Provençal in resort town Juan-les-Pins is now luxury apartments, including this three-story unit with lots of outdoor space

By LIZ LUCKING
Thu, Jul 25, 2024 9:03amGrey Clock 2 min

A lavish penthouse on the French Riviera within a former Art Deco hotel that was frequented by a veritable who’s who of writers, artists and actors has hit the market for €40 million (US$43.4 million).

The three-level unit sits atop Le Provençal, a residential development converted from the Hôtel Provençal, which was built in the mid-1920s at the direction of American millionaire Frank Jay Gould.

In its prime, the 290-room hotel in the resort town Juan-les-Pins was the place to see and be seen.

“Chanel invented pyjamas as beachwear there. Ernest Hemingway sat at the bar, and Edith Piaf partied in the ballroom. Picasso painted the beach scenes, and Man Ray photographed them,” according to The New York Times.

The penthouse has a private pool.
Caudwell

 

The hotel shuttered in 1977, and its transformation into 39 residences by British developer Caudwell is expected to be completed next year.

Entered via private elevator and spanning upward of 9,000 square feet, the six-bedroom penthouse, which hit the market earlier this week, spans the east wing of the building across the eighth, ninth and 10th floors.

For its interiors, the developer aimed to channel the glamour for which the area is renowned, and turned to the outfits of famous names who frequently visited, along with the colours of the French Riviera, as inspiration.

The primary bedroom suite, for example—which has two bathrooms, dressing rooms and a private terrace—pays homage to the pink hues of the surroundings and the elaborate caftans that Elizabeth Taylor wore on one of her many visits to the area.

The interiors are inspired by the glamour of the area.
Caudwell

The home also boasts a family room, a home cinema, a gym, a family kitchen and breakfast room, a sculptural oval staircase, vast living and entertaining spaces, and impressive views along the French Riviera.

There’s a whopping 3,789 square feet of private terraces across the home—making its outdoor space larger than many single-family homes—a private pool and six parking bays in the development’s secure parking garage.

“With their private terraces, swimming pools and far-reaching panoramic views the penthouses at Le Provençal are the jewels in the [development’s] crown,” said Lars Christiaanse, group director of sales at Caudwell.



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The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.

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Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.

The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.

“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”

Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.

The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”

Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.

The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.

The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.

The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”

The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”

The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”