When looking for an architect for their house on the Côte d'Azur, the Viscounts of Noailles lived up to their excessive ambition. Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier resigned. The third option was Robert Mallet-Stevens, a very modern film designer and decorator who hardly had anything built in 1923. Villa Noailles, his creation, is usually defined as a cubist castle, but it is a total work of art, like a Wagner opera or a fantasy of the Tenerife carnival.
There is something of a trompe l'oeil in Villa Noailles, even if it is set in an aesthetic sense that is the opposite of the carnivalesque. It is believed to be constructed of concrete, although it is constructed primarily of stone and cement-covered bricks. This is how it stands on a hill in front of the Provençal town of Hyères. The writer Edith Wharton looked suspiciously at these cubes from her neighboring neo-Romanesque residence. But raising suspicion about the universe embodied by Wharton was part of the joy Marie-Laure and Charles de Noailles took in it.
Marie-Laure's 1936 photo by artist Man Ray flies on a flag over the house.Manuel Vázquez
Marie-Laure de Noailles, née Bischoffsheim (Paris, 1902–1970), was the product of a fabulous mix of lineages: on the side of a noble mother, she had ancestors such as the Marquis de Sade and her grandmother Laure de Chevigné had Proust as an inspiration served the Duchess of Guermantes in “In Search of Lost Time,” which apparently didn’t stop her from becoming the first woman to publicly utter the word “shit.” On her father's side there was a line of German-Belgian Jewish bankers: after the death of her father and grandfather, she became the sole heir to a fortune as a child. As a teenager, to the dismay of her family, she was in love with the homosexual and lower-middle-class writer and artist Jean Cocteau, who breathed a sigh of relief when she married Viscount Charles de Noailles (Paris, 1891-1981), scion of an old aristocratic family, in 1923. Their colleagues called them “the Charles”: cultured and dynamic, they were not satisfied with what this dusty world could offer them and set out to rule over the avant-garde.
On the small dining table of the house, the tableware designed by Marie-Laure de Noailles for the Christofle brand stands out. Manuel Vazquez
They renovated their Paris residence, the flowery Bischoffsheim Hôtel, with the help of interior designer Jean-Michel Frank, who replaced moldings and paneling with parchment and straw coverings on which they placed their wonderful art collection: Goya, Van Dyck and Watteau coexisted in this way . with Picasso, Balthus and Dalí. The Catalan painter was advanced the money that enabled him to buy his house in Portlligat. Musicians like Poulenc, Milhaud and Auric were also on his payroll. They were also pioneers of avant-garde film production. Two of his films, Biceps et bijoux by Jacques Manuel and Les mystères du château du Dé by Man Ray, were shot in Villa Noailles. And Luis Buñuel stayed there to write the screenplay for “The Golden Age,” another Charleses assignment that blew up in their faces: the scandal that sparked this violent anti-bourgeois ode was so great that it was banned until 1981 became. But that only helped them well. to strengthen their positions.
The house was intended as a winter vacation residence, when it was civilized to spend the cold months on the Mediterranean and the warm months on the northern coasts. Despite its apparent austerity, it had unusual comfort elements: central heating, built-in wardrobes, telephone, bathroom in every room and a clock in every room, designed by the artist Jourdain. And even more modern was an indoor pool with a trapeze hanging above where you could train before swimming. Next door a gym and a squash court. An attractive gym teacher was the definitive addition that would make the entire French Riviera green with envy. There were always swimsuits and sportswear in the rooms. Just as Marie Antoinette played shepherdess at Versailles, the Charleses offered their guests a representation of fashionable sporting life.
Exterior view of the main facade of Villa Noailles, an architectural gem now 100 years old. Robert Mallet-Stevens, a very modern film designer and decorator, had barely built anything when he began construction in 1923. Manuel Vazquez
The furniture was signed by Djo-Bourgeois, Chareau, Prouvé, Gray or Perriand. The stained glass windows were created by Louis Barillet. A cubist garden, a work by Gabriel Guevrekian, featured a rotating sculpture by Lipchitz. In one of the bedrooms, designed by the architect Van Ravesteyn, there was a painting by Mondrian. The so-called “Flower Room” was a small room whose sole function was to prepare the bouquets of flowers that brightened the house, but whose walls were painted by Theo van Doesburg. Braque, Giacometti and Brancusi were other artists represented.
During the Second World War the building was taken by Italian troops and converted into a hospital. After the war, the couple lived separately, although they always maintained written and telephone contact. The Viscount holed up in nearby Grasse and devoted himself to botany. And Marie-Laure spent her time between Hyères and Paris, becoming a patron and creator in her own right. She swapped Chanel styles for Provençal dresses and her progressive political ideas earned her the nickname “Red Viscountess.” He began painting and writing. He supported artists, writers and living people. One of his protégés, the Canarian painter Óscar Domínguez, created a surviving mural next to the pool.
The covered swimming pool of Villa Noailles in its original condition (1928): It was the largest in a private house of its time. ©Thérèse Bonney (Archive Vi
After Marie-Laure's death in 1970, Charles retrieved the furniture and artwork and sold the house to the municipality of Hyères. It was restored in the 1990s and has hosted the annual fashion and photography festival since 1985, once again welcoming artists. Man Ray's portrait of Marie-Laure flies high above: Villa Noailles is still full of life.
The stained glass window on the ceiling of the Pink Room, the work of the designer, artist and artisan Louis Barillet, is one of the jewels of the house.Manuel Vázquez
Piece by French artist Jerôme Basserode, selected by Pierre Yovanovitch for the exhibition “Les nuits d' été”.Manuel Vázquez
The pool retains its original polyhedral roof, temporarily interrupted by an exhibition by the artist Charles de Vilmorin and Manuel Vázquez
Photobooth photo of Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, taken during a trip to Barcelona in 1929. Private collection (Archive V
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