French Riviera Villa Built for the World's 1st Makeup Mogul

French Riviera Villa Built for the World's 1st Makeup Mogul

Francis York

 Set on the French Riviera in the Cannes hillside, Villa Blanche is a lovely estate comprising 5 separate maisons for a total of 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms with over 10,763 square feet of interior space. 

The estate was built in the 1950s for the Polish-American beauty mogul, Helena Rubinstein. 

The first woman to become a self-made millionaire, Rubinstein, an orthodox Jew from Krakow, Poland, moved to Australia at 22 and began her enterprise selling face creams while working at her uncle’s shop. She opened her first salon in 1902, the Valaze House of Beauty.

After several years of success, Rubinstein took $100,000 of her fortune and made her move to Europe to open the Salon de Beauté Valaze in London, creating one of the world’s first cosmetic companies. 

The ambitious Rubinstein used London as a springboard to the rest of the world. 

She conquered Paris in less than 2 years, rubbing shoulders with the greatest artists and figures of the 20th century. She made the move to the United States during the Great War to further expand her business, thus launching her rivalry with Elizabeth Arden.

The 2017 Tony-nominated Broadway musical ‘War Paint’, based on the biography of the same name, chronicles her rivalry with Elizabeth Arden. By the beginning of the second world war, Rubinstein had opened her renowned New York salon, and by the 1950s, Rubinstein was at the height of her career and success. 

At the beginning of the 1950s, Rubinstein commissioned French architect and co-Founder of the Compagnie des arts français Louis Süe to build her French Riviera estate at the beginning of the 1950s. 

The Villa Blanche estate is set on a charming 2.47 acre lot in the hillside, surrounded by Florentine cypresses and lush, Mediterranean greenery. 

The property was recently updated by interior designer Bert Quadvlieg, and the beautiful terraced gardens were also revived under the supervision of the legendary Riviera landscape architect, Jean Mus, "the man with 1500 gardens''. 

A heated swimming pool is located on the west corner of the park, with a landscaped terrace. The property also offers an organic olive oil production. 

Maison Blanche, the main 6458 square foot residence, offers 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Maison des Amis is a 1237 square foot 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom guest house. Maison Lupatelli offers 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in a 1076 square foot dwelling, and Maison de l’Artistes offers a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom suite. There is also an additional 753 square foot one-bedroom Caretaker’s cottage on the property, with a 6 car garage beneath the residence. 

Villa Blanche offers a unique opportunity to own a classic bastide property with luxurious amenities, offering the best of the Mediterenean climate at ~1000 feet above sea level. 

The property is well positioned, close to the medieval village of Grasse and just 15 km from Cannes and the beautiful beaches of the Cote d’Azur.

All photos belong to the listing agency.




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