Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Nice

About the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, also called the Villa Île-de-France, stands on the isthmus of the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat peninsula, on a ridge between two bays. Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild, of the famous banking family and wife of the banker Maurice Ephrussi, built it in 1907–1912 to designs by the architect Aaron Messiah.

The baroness filled the house with antique furniture, Old Master paintings, sculpture and one of the finest collections of rare porcelain. On her death in 1934 she left the villa and its collections to the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France, and the house and gardens have been open to the public ever since. It has been a historic monument since 1996.

What to see

• The French garden — a pool, fountains and a 'Temple of Love' on the hill.
• The Spanish garden — a shady courtyard with a fountain and amphorae.
• The Japanese garden — little bridges, lanterns and bamboo.
• The Florentine garden — a stairway, a grotto and a view of Villefranche.
• The rose garden — hundreds of roses in bloom season.
• The villa's rooms — 18th-century furniture, paintings and porcelain.

Nine gardens

Nine gardens surround the villa, each on a theme: French, Spanish, Japanese, Florentine, Provençal, exotic, a stone garden, a rose garden and a Sèvres garden. They were created in 1905–1912 under the landscape architect Achille Duchêne.

The gardens were conceived as a ship sailing on the sea: from the villa's loggia, like a captain's bridge, water is visible on every side. The baroness was inspired by a voyage on the liner Île de France, and her thirty gardeners once wore sailors' uniforms with red-pompom berets. The largest is the French garden behind the villa: a long pool, fountains, water lilies and a cypress-covered hill topped by a copy of the Temple of Love from Versailles.

Inside the villa

The ground-floor state rooms of the pink palace are open to visitors. They hold 18th-century furniture, tapestries and Old Master paintings, and display cases of rare porcelain from Sèvres, Meissen and Vincennes that the baroness collected all her life.

The interiors keep the feel of a lavish Belle Époque home: a colonnaded patio under a glass roof, the baroness's boudoir and salons overlooking the gardens and sea. An audio guide tells the story of the villa and its owner.

The villa today

The villa belongs to the Académie des Beaux-Arts and is open year-round. Each June it holds Painters' Day, when artists come to paint in the gardens. In summer an open-air opera festival takes place in the gardens, with exhibitions in the rooms.

The villa is also hired for weddings, receptions and filming, so parts of the gardens are sometimes closed; check the website before you go.

Tips for your visit

Allow an hour and a half to two hours for the villa and gardens. Start with the gardens while they're quiet and save the rooms for the heat of the day. The musical fountains are best seen from the loggia or the tea-room terrace.

The villa pairs naturally with a walk on the Cap Ferrat coastal path or a visit to Villefranche-sur-Mer and Èze, all close together on the same coast.

Garden paths have steps and slopes in places, but the main avenues are pushchair-friendly. Photos are allowed in the gardens, and without flash in the rooms.

Nearby and on the way

40

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

Nice, France

3 h · Free · 19 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

37

Beaulieu-sur-Mer

Nice, France

2 h 30 min · Free · 21 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Beaulieu-sur-Mer

46

Villefranche-sur-Mer

Nice, France

2 h 30 min · Free · 28 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Villefranche-sur-Mer

How to do it right

• Open time beats the groups.
• Fountains every 20 minutes.
• Spring blooms.
• Check closures online.

Questions