Château des Terrasses

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château des Terrasses is an eclectic villa built around 1885 in Cap-d'Ail (Alpes-Maritimes) for William Mendel, a London banker. Its symmetrical façade combines alternating bands of render and brick, triangular pediments above the openings and a terraced roof edged with balustrades. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia stayed there in the winter of 1895–1896 and received the President of the Republic, Félix Faure, there. The property was acquired in 1914 by Anne-Émilie Lans du Eyssier, before being partly subdivided after 1950. The estate, which originally covered about 16,000 m² with pleasure gardens, exotic plantings and outbuildings (stables, laundry, staff quarters), has been included since 1996 in the survey of the seaside heritage of the Côte d'Azur. Owned by the commune of Cap-d'Ail, the château now hosts exhibitions, concerts and municipal cultural events, as well as private receptions, in a Belle Époque setting overlooking the Mediterranean.