Long before it was an ultra-luxury trophy home on the Côte d’Azur, the soaring double-height rotunda at Cap d’Antibes was the glittering epicenter of the Roaring Twenties.
Within the rotunda’s dramatic high-ceilinged ballroom and restaurant, history unfolded over champagne and jazz.
Charlie Chaplin ate breakfast here during his stay in the early thirties. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his dazzling wife Zelda danced beneath the coffered ceilings, while Ernest Hemingway traded stories nearby. Coco Chanel glided through for dinner in 1931, Pablo Picasso dined in 1937, and Marlene Dietrich shared lunch with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor on the eve of World War II.
In the decades that followed, the room’s glamour only grew. Sir Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, and Ella Fitzgerald all graced the space, solidifying its status as one of the most storied rooms on the Mediterranean.
When the hotel shuttered its doors in 1977, the historic ballroom sat quietly sleeping, waiting for its next chapter. Enter luxury developer John Caudwell, who undertook a massive transformation to restore the heritage building into Le Provençal, a £300M+ collection of private, world-class residences.
At the heart of this rebirth sits the crown jewel: ‘Villa Zelda’, named in honor of the iconic Roaring Twenties muse herself.
Listed for €27.25 million (approx. AU$47.5 million), Villa Zelda reimagines the former grand ballroom as a spectacular, private 6,458 sq. ft. (600 sqm) home.
The central rotunda has been brilliantly preserved as the main reception room, where 16ft high arched French doors and Art Deco porthole windows flood the marble floors with Riviera light.
Today, the grand salon is designed for high-society entertaining once again. Complete with a Steinway grand piano, a marble and mahogany cocktail bar, and curated contemporary art, it stands as a modern tribute to the original Riviera salon.
Beyond the grand rotunda, the five-bedroom residence blends timeless Art Deco architectural details with ultra-modern luxury:
- The Principal Suite: Features a private entrance, dual walk-in dressing rooms, two lavish marble bathrooms lined in Nero Marquina and Calacatta stone, and its own private massage and beauty salon.
- The Upper Level: Houses four ensuite VIP bedrooms—including two with internal porthole windows looking down into the rotunda below—alongside a Hollywood-style private cinema and media room.
- The Grounds: The home opens onto 6,805 sq. ft. (632 sqm) of private, landscaped Mediterranean gardens, complete with a 30ft (9m) swimming pool and dedicated pool pavilion.