Description
An artist’s villa facing the sea
This hillside villa was built in 1977 by Polish architect Janusz Matecki, and boasts an exceptional panoramic view of the sea and Monaco. Commissioned by a world-renowned painter, the project involved creating a place to live and meet around the studio. Over the years, the studio has played host to many famous personalities and artists. Since moving to New York, the owner has entrusted us with the management of this remarkable architectural work.
Set in 1660 sqm of land, the villa offers around 300 sqm of living space spread over several levels along the natural slope of the land, which is laid out in terraces.
It comprises an entrance hall, a vast workshop divided into two sections and opening onto a terrace with a grotto, a reception area on two levels comprising a dining room, a kitchen and a lounge extending onto a terrace with panoramic views over Monaco and the French Riviera. The sleeping area comprises four bedrooms, two of which have a mezzanine, two dressing rooms, two bathrooms and a shower room.
The interior spaces are structured by oblique lines that follow the slope of the land, guiding the eye towards the terraces and the view. The blonde wood panelling and terracotta tiles create a warm atmosphere, typical of the houses in the region. A sculptural fireplace with orthogonal lines and a rounded bar, concealing a spiral staircase in typical 1970s design, energise the spaces.
The property is just a stone’s throw from the old village of Roquebrune and enjoys an idyllic setting, just a stone’s throw from the Chanel Foundation and 10 minutes from the Principality of Monaco. Known as the home of architect Le Corbusier, the medieval architecture of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin’s old village stands side by side with the finest examples of Belle Epoque and modern architecture, such as villa E1027, by architect and designer Eileen Gray, or Le Corbusier’s cabanon and its camping units. The writer Romain Gary also owned a house here.
Between local tradition and modernity
The architecture of the villa combines the purity of modernist design with Mediterranean constructional features, in an approach akin to Critical Regionalism. This movement, born in reaction to the uniformity of the modern movement, aimed to enrich its pure forms with elements from the vernacular and its genius loci, in order to compose living spaces in keeping with the heritage history and topography of the place.
Here, the volumes designed to follow the slope of the land and the gently sloping roofs, covered in terracotta canal tiles, integrate the villa into the local built landscape, while the scale of the volumes and the large picture windows anchor the whole in modernity. The windows, framed by the views and landscape, recall Le Corbusier’s drawings of the bay of Roquebrune and Monaco from his cottage.
Janusz Matecki
Architect Janusz Matecki was a member of ATELIER 3, an architectural studio established in Monaco between 1960 and 1978 and founded by three Polish architects: himself, Konrad Szabelewski and Stefan Maresz.
This group of architects has completed a number of projects in the Alpes-Maritimes and Corsica, focusing mainly on private holiday accommodation for a middle-class clientele. Although luxurious, their designs always maintain a strong link with their immediate built environment.
Konrad Szabelewski liked to say that “respect for the past and the environment are the foundation of [his] architectural thinking“. The use of natural materials such as terracotta, stone, wood and thatch anchors the practice of these architects in Critical Regionalism, with respect for the region’s historical heritage.
Technical elements
Price: €2,800,000
Fee payable by seller
Freehold
Land tax: €2,000
ENERGY CLASS: D / CLIMATE CLASS: B.
Estimated average annual energy costs for standard use, based on 2021 energy prices: between €3,650 and €4,980.
