The home of Beatrice Rothschild was the Villa et Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild, this villa is a product of a different age. She inherited an immense fortune from her father in 1905 and immediately began the construction of this villa. She was married to a famous banker in 1883 at the age of 18. Her husband was a philander, gambler and a poor business man. Not only did he give Beatrice a STD that prevented her having children, he also lost so much money that they had to separate their finances in 1904. Eventually they divorced and cut all ties. She inherited her fathers art collection and became a collector herself. For instance she had a game table owned by Marie Antionette and a rug from Louis XIV. The villa and gardens took seven years to construct. The gardens were particularly difficult as large areas were dynamited and fertile soil was brought in. The villa was decorated in the "Rothschild" style meaning the best quality of every epoch. With motifs centering on birds, monkeys antiques and porcelains the place was a bit of a hodgepodge. The Rothschild family were the preeminent collector of French porcelains.
Early in the morning Lou would leave the apartment and watch the sun rise
Two planes diverge in the sky
A seahorse statue on our drive
Such fine buildings in Villefrance
A serious helmet for a bike rider
We were let out at the gate and had to walk up the hill to the Villa
The view was phenomenal
A driveway with a view
Entering the grounds
A large covered central courtyard
All the rooms have an opening to the center
Painted ceiling at the entry
What a view out of the large windows in the stairwell
Don't cry for me, tourist people
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The walls were painted like the newly discovered walls of Pompei
A swan shaped Limoges box
Le oink du oink
Nice symmetry
These doors were salvaged from the building that housed a Rothschilds business
This desk is superp
Monkeys on top of monkeys
In fact we have an entire orchestra made of monkeys
On a porch between the wings of the house there was a collection of ironworks
Such fine detail
The patio looks over the gardens
The monkey boudoir has all monkeys everywhere
Drinking
Blowing out candles with their farts
Climbing on the light fixtures
More butt candle extingushing
Next it is the bird room
This is a Kynsna Turaco, one of the birds that I saw in the wild in South Africa which was the memory on FB earlier that morning
I love how thew shutters open out
More fancy furniture
Flying plates
When you have too many birdcages make a light fixture
A chorus of frogs
This may have been Marie Antionette's table
How did they make a portrait of us in advance?
Great displey
Woof!
We have made it the entire way around the top f;loor
A clock shop sign
Back down the stairs
Each window is probably 20 feet tall
Great views
Still in the Pompei style
Carry me please
On the first floor in the formal salon
Cherub clock
The ceiling
A fancy game table
Dancing
More pompei
This is a Louie XIV rug and the fleur de lis were removed from the corners
A dandy of a dress
Another ceiling
The image of the Palis Royal on this table. This is where we stayed in Paris
A clock, barometer and thermometer combo
A very old phone
Beatrice's bed
Another writing desk
A grand scene
A classic steamer
A collection of Chinese artifacts
With the tiny shoes for bound feet
This was a dome shaped, woven ceiling made from hickory wood
The geometric pattern was so very interesting
It all came together in the center
A grand door
The door was studded with heads
Entering the porcelain area
The yellow color was the the most difficult to make
Green was not much easier
Nice boat
Just for show
These were the best combination of form and design
Le pink collection
The ceiling
On site lunch, salmon for me
Quiche and salad for the gals
A puffy red dessert
A nutty chocolate bit
I expected to have two scoops of sorbet but got this giant dish
