The former Hôtel Provençal in resort town Juan-les-Pins is now luxury apartments, including this three-story unit with lots of outdoor space
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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 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 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 US housing market remains under pressure as high mortgage rates continue to weigh on affordability and demand. Industry leaders say 2026 has been one of the toughest years for home sales, with slower price growth, weaker mortgage activity, and fewer buyers entering the market. However, experts say reduced competition and more price cuts could create opportunities for well-prepared buyers.
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The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.
Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”
Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.
The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.
But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.
Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.
“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”
Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.
Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”
Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.
Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.
