The villa ''La Reine Jeanne'' is an imposing holiday mansion, built in 1928 by the American architect

Barry Dierks Barry Dierks (1899 – February 20, 1960) was an American architect of the Modernist movement. He was active in France, principally on the French Riviera from 1925 to the 1950s. Biography Son of W. C. Dierks, managing director of C. C. Mellor p ...

for the French industrialist

Paul-Louis Weiller Paul-Louis Weiller (September 29, 1893, Paris - December 6, 1993, Geneva) was a French industrialist and philanthropist. Biography From a Jewish Alsatian family, Weiller was the son of the industrialist and politician Lazare Weiller (1858–192 ...

. Located on of land in the village of Cabasson, in the commune of

Bormes-les-Mimosas Bormes-les-Mimosas (; ) is a commune in the Var department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, southeastern France. It has a Mediterranean climate. Bormes-les-Mimosas is a city in bloom and won the 2003 Gold Medal awarded by the Entente Flor ...

( Var), the property is near the Fort de Brégançon. It is renowned for having received numerous celebrities, stars, writers, monarchs, and heads of state, among whom

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, King Juan Carlos of Spain, and

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

are noted.

History

In the mid-1920s, while searching for a place to build his summer home, Paul-Louis Weiller explored the

French Riviera The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

at the controls of an airplane. He discovered the site, located on the ''pointe de la Galère'' in the village of Cabasson at Bormes-les-Mimosas. The area, which he purchased, extended over , included a forest of

maritime pine ''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings. Description ''Pinus pinast ...

s and

cork oak ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork (material), cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, ...

trees near a beach, where, in 1347, queen

Joanna I of Naples Joanna I, also known as Johanna I (; December 1325 – 27 July 1382), was Queen of Naples, and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1343 to 1381; she was also Princess of Achaea from 1373 to 1381. Joanna was the eldest daughter of C ...

, comtesse de Provence disembarked. In 1928, Weiller commissioned

to build on the site a

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

villa capable of accommodating 30 guests. Until the year before his death in 1993, Weiller continued to receive at the villa ''La Reine Jeanne'' international dignitaries from the world of politics, arts and letters, as well as industrialists and giants of the financial world. During the summer of 1969, President

, who was vacationing at the Fort de Brégançon, was a regular guest at his neighbor's dinner table.Marcel Van Thienen, “Les souvenirs rois”, ''Le petit journal du réseau Lalan'', association culturelle borméo-lavandouraine
download
(page consulted 4 May 2011) Likewise, Grand Duke

Jean of Luxembourg Jean (Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc d'Aviano; 5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019) was the Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1964 until his abdication in 2000. He was the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg of French agnati ...

, who owned the adjoining villa, ''La Tour sarrasine'', was a frequent guest. It was at Cabasson that Weiller's granddaughter, Sibilla, met

Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (''Guillaume Marie Louis Christian''; born 1 May 1963) is the third son and youngest child of Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg. Life Prince Guillaume was born in Betzdorf ...

, youngest son of the Grand Duke. The two were married in 1994.Stéphane Bern, “Vivons royaux, vivons cachés,” ''

Le Figaro Magazine ''Le Figaro Magazine'' is a French language weekly news magazine published in Paris, France. The magazine is the weekly supplement of the daily newspaper and has been in circulation since 1978. History The magazine is the first supplement of ...

'', 3 July 2009
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(page consulted 4 May 2011)

Notable guests

Among those notables invited to the villa were:

History

Notable guests

Notes and references

See also

See also