Villa Marie-Laure-de-Noailles ou château Saint-Bernard

English translation

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History

Winter residence built by architect Rob Mallet-Stevens, his first complete commission, for Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. From 1923, the date of acquisition of land encompassing the enclosure of a medieval castle, construction of the villa occupies several summer building campaigns between 1924 and 1930, with further modifications (notably to ensure waterproofing and comfort) between 1930 and 1939. The edifice is realised in traditional masonry coated with render, with some reinforced concrete elements. The original programme of a "small house in the South" evolved into a private cultural and sports complex of 1,800 square metres of living space, comprising 42 bedrooms in total and maintained by around twenty servants. Fond of modernity, Charles de Noailles called upon numerous artists from the circle of Mallet-Stevens: the decorator-designers Pierre Chareau, Eileen Gray and Francis Jourdain, the master glazier Louis Barillet, the architects Georges Djo-Bourgeois and Gabriel Guévrékian (author of the triangular garden and the swimming pool), the painter and architect Théo van Doesburg and the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz. The villa was acquired by the town of Hyères in 1973, after the death of Marie-Laure de Noailles. The lower part of the villa and the garden were restored in 1991, and the continuation of the restoration programme began in 1997.