A fairy-tale castle in France – yours for Dh200 million

The 13-bedroom castle, which was the location of Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief, starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, has always had a special hold on its eminent owners and guests.

The 33-metre swimming pool at La Croix de Gardens Castle in Cannes, France. Courtesy Côte d'Azur Sotheby's International Realty
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The former Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly, who spent time filming in the ballroom of the Castle of La Croix des Garden, near Cannes, in the 1950s, was charmed by its grandeur.
Resplendence is a trait that many palatial properties on the French Riviera were forced to forsake after the demise of the golden Belle Époque period – but it is a feature that the current owner of this castle, the head of Perrier, has taken great care to maintain.
The castle, which was the location of Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief, starring Kelly and Cary Grant, has always had a special hold on its owners and guests. The hilltop property was built in 1919 by Swiss industrialist Paul Girod, who sold it to the Goldman family, the owners of the Burma jewels. It has undergone several refurbishments in the 56 years since Louis-Eugène Perrier came to live here.
Perrier first got architect Alan Gore to extend and redesign the interiors in a neo-Palladian style – borrowed from the luxurious British family estate Wrotham Castle – even while maintaining the Florentine-style facade, high ceilings and exposed wooden beams. In the 1970s, an orangery was introduced in the main garden, along with a separate winter garden and Turkish lodge. Architect André Svétchine designed the 33-metre swimming pool, while an infinity pool overlooking the Bay of Cannes dominates another corner of the 24-acre estate.
The 13-bedroom property – said to be in pristine condition – includes a four-floor master house, which is serviced by an elevator, plus a separate guesthouse, staff quarters and a security enclosure at the entrance.
Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea from its 700-foot vantage point, the castle of La Croix des Gardes is one of the last properties to fully recall the glory days of life on the famed French Riviera.
The estate is on the market through Sotheby's International Realty for Dh208 million (negotiable).
Read this and more stories in Luxurymagazine, out with The National on Thursday, May 12.
pmunyal@thenational.ae