Out of hundreds of villas that once existed on the Promenade des Anglais, this is one of the survivors, now being squashed between apartment blocks. It is located on number 139, near the Lenval hospital on the Promenade.
Plans for this amazing (exaggerated !) Art Nouveau building with its curved façade, polychrome ceramic decorations and impressive red roof shaped like a Samourai's hat, were drawn up by Marius Allinge in 1907 for Carl Constantin Collin (1863-1941), an eccentric Finnish millionaire. The villa has changed owners, but is still in private hands.
The corner carytid sculpture, created by François Louis Virieux, is a delightful scene showing a young lady playfully trying to avoid a shower of roses from two cherubs. 
I made this picture last year. It is a pity that they made windows and did not keep the little glasses as you see in the first picture. However the contrast couldn't be bigger with this adjacent villa in art deco style. It is amazing how the style changes only a few years later.
This picture can be found on http://www.huovila.net/gallery/Fgallery2-2.jpgThe original detached house once upon a time ...(today it is on the left attached to an apartment house).
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