Description
A modern icon on the French Riviera
Nestling in a setting of holm oaks and umbrella pines overlooking the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, the Villa Vent d’Aval, designed by Pierre Chareau in 1928, is one of the architect’s seven creations. It was listed as a Historic Monument in 1993 and has been awarded the “Remarkable Contemporary Architecture” label since 2001.
Set in the heart of a 7,000 m² wooded estate adjacent to the Beauvallon golf course, the Villa Vent d’Aval offers 330 m² of living space over two floors.
Designed to resemble an ocean liner, the house breaks with the traditional layout: the sleeping area is on the ground floor for greater privacy, while the upstairs living areas enjoy uninterrupted views over the Gulf of Saint Tropez. Remarkably well-preserved, it has retained most of its original features.
The first floor houses the reception areas, accessible via the garden and an interior circular staircase. Bathed in light thanks to panoramic windows overlooking the horizon, they comprise a vast living room, a dining room and a large open-plan kitchen. A few steps lead up to a pleasant covered terrace with a solarium overlooking the pine forest and the village of Saint-Tropez on the horizon.
The garden level comprises the villa’s sleeping quarters, for which Pierre Chareau drew inspiration from the gangways and cabins of cruise ships. The L-shaped entrance hall leads to 7 bedrooms, a living room and 3 bathrooms. Each of the bedrooms benefits from a view over the garden through entablature windows. The various entrances and external passageways have been designed to offer residents considerable independence and privacy.
The property, bordered by vast lawns, is bordered by a hedge of tall pine trees and numerous Mediterranean species. It also includes a garage and basement with cellar and technical rooms, as well as a swimming pool currently under construction (completion June 2023).
The Villa Vent d’Aval enjoys a privileged location in the Domaine de Beauvallon, on the Bay of Saint-Tropez, 10 minutes by car from Port Grimaud, 30 minutes from Saint-Tropez and 1 hour from Nice Côte-d’Azur airport.
Right next to the Domaine’s beaches (direct access on foot to the Vieux Moulin and Gros Pin beaches) and on the edge of the Beauvallon golf course, the house offers privileged access to the estate’s services and sporting activities: tennis courts, yoga club, water sports, horse-riding, cycle paths and coastal walks…
A commission by promoter Edmond Bernheim
In 1926, Pierre Chareau built the Club-House on the Beauvallon golf course in collaboration with Bernard Bijvoet for Edmond Bernheim, the project’s promoter. Listed as a Monument Historique in 1993 and awarded the “Patrimoine XXe” label in 2001, this was the very first project of Chareau’s career.
After building the Club-House, Pierre Chareau was commissioned to design the developer’s holiday home the following year. The villa would eventually be able to accommodate three generations of his family. Having left France for the United States in 1940, Pierre Chareau entrusted the completion of the project to André Barbier-Bouvet, a local architect, who did not complete it until after the Second World War.
An avant-garde villa anchored in modernity
The house’s programme and the great freedom given to him by the client allowed Pierre Chareau to give free rein to his talent. For this villa, with its cubist design and sophisticated massing, he drew his inspiration from the theories of the Dutch De Stijl group and the Bauhaus, as well as from the work of avant-garde figures of the time, such as the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, with whom he was close.
The facade of the house is in the ‘ocean liner’ style, the height of luxury for wealthy clients in the 1920s. The transatlantic aesthetic is captivating, with its railings, vast panoramic windows and materials reminiscent of the nautical world. Here, the horizontal lines of the building, the fine metal railings, the interplay of terraces reminiscent of the gangways of a ship’s decks and gangways, and the evocative cylindrical volume of the staircase, project the residents into the imaginary world of travel.
Pierre Chareau
Born in Bordeaux, Pierre Chareau (1883-1950) studied in Paris, where he trained as an architect, designer and painter at the Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-arts. He began his career in interior design firms and set up his own studio in 1919.
It was here that he met his first clients and friends, Dr Dalsace and his wife Anna Bernheim, for whom he designed the famous Maison de Verre between 1928 and 1931. After designing the Club-House for the Beauvallon Golf Club in 1926, he went on to design his own furniture, in particular a rattan version of his famous “MC763 Folding Chair”. In 1928, just as he was starting work on the Maison de Verre, he was asked by Robert Mallet-Stevens to decorate the Villa Noailles. He exhibited his work at major artistic events such as the Salon des artistes décorateurs and the Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes.
At the same time, he co-founded the UAM (Union des artistes modernes) with Pierre Barbe and Robert Mallet-Stevens to defend a more radical line than Art Deco. His participation in the first International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM) in 1928, alongside Le Corbusier, demonstrated his growing interest in the new European currents of thought such as De Stijl and the Bauhaus. He was one of the first to promote the use of glass and steel, and tried to apply the concept of total art to his designs. In 1940, he left Europe to settle in France, where he worked on private projects until his death ten years later.
Technical elements
File on request
Fees are payable by the vendor
Full owner
Property tax 2022 : NC
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