January 27, 2009

Villas on the Promenade. Number 61: Villa Furtado - Heine



This villa (number 61 on the Promenade) was built for Lady Penelope Rivers in 1787. However, 1789 is the year of the French Revolution and Lady Rivers fled back to England abandoning the villa. It became public property and was sold to Sébastien Grandis who rented the villa out to wealthy winter residents such as Pauline Borhèse, Napoleon’s sister, and Marie-Louise de Bourbon-Parme. After many other owners is was bought in 1883 by Cécile Charlotte Furtado-Heine. She let her villa transformate into a retirement home for sick and injured officers. It has remained so ever since, today officers are taking holiday here and so it is referred to as the “Villa des Officiers”.


Please don't enter this gate as the garden is private domain! I did it once, I did not know then, I was taking pictures like a tourist, the gate was open and looked like the gate of the Massena museum which has a public garden, then suddenly the gate closed automatically and I was captured. There are cameras in the garden that will catch you. The old officers liked to capture me and once in the building they told me to call the police. One friendly officer let me escape at the back door which is located at 121, Rue de France.

In a side street of the Promenade next to the villa, the Rue Honoré Sauvan, you can find the Four Points Sheraton Elysee Hotel. It is outlined by 2 monumental bronze sculptures of Venus by a Nice artist, Sacha Sosno. It looks like if Venus is between the construction of the building, which is very special.

2 comments:

  1. I've never noticed that villa in Nice, looks really lovely. It's such a beautiful city. I've only visited it once but my father studied there for a year so I heard so much about it :)

    Marta
    Vacation Rentals

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed those pictures. Good job. You can see my site: http://thoughtwhisperer.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete