Villa Leopolda, Villefranche-sur-Mer: from King Leopold II to the 2008 sale that never happened
High on the hills of Villefranche-sur-Mer, between Nice and Monaco, Villa Leopolda is one of the most famous private estates in the world. In just over a century it has passed from a Belgian king to an American architect, a Canadian philanthropist, the head of Fiat and a banking dynasty, and in 2008 it was at the centre of one of the most talked-about property sales in history.
The estate
Villa Leopolda stands on the heights of Villefranche-sur-Mer, overlooking the bay of Villefranche and Cap Ferrat. The estate covers around 7 to 8 hectares of gardens, with more than 1,200 trees. The villa itself is said to offer around 2,700 m² of living space and ten bedrooms. It is recorded in the regional heritage inventory of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
King Leopold II and Blanche Delacroix
The estate takes its name from King Leopold II of Belgium, who owned land on these hills at the turn of the 20th century. He gave the property to his mistress, Blanche Delacroix, also known as Caroline Lacroix.
After Leopold’s death in 1909, Blanche Delacroix was evicted, and the estate passed to his nephew and successor, King Albert I.
The First World War
During the First World War, the villa served as a military hospital.
1919: the Comtesse de Beauchamp
In 1919, the estate was bought by Thérèse Vitali, Comtesse de Beauchamp, who had the property altered.
Ogden Codman and the villa we know today
The villa as it stands today is the work of the American architect and interior designer Ogden Codman Jr. He bought the dozen existing buildings on the site, including two peasant cottages, and between 1929 and 1931 transformed them into a neo-Palladian villa surrounded by extensive gardens.
Codman could not afford to live there himself, so he rented the villa to wealthy tenants. He was also selective: he is said to have turned down a lease to an English couple with the words, I regret that the House of Codman is unable to do business with the House of Windsor.
The Killams and the Agnellis
After Codman’s death in 1951, the estate was bought by the Canadian financier Izaak Walton Killam, and on his death it passed to his widow, Dorothy Killam.
In the late 1950s, she sold Villa Leopolda to Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiat, and his wife Marella. In 1963 the Agnellis sold it back to Dorothy Killam, who lived there until her death in 1965.
The villa also appeared on screen: in 1948 it was used as the villa of Lermontov in the film The Red Shoes.
Edmond and Lily Safra
In 1987, Villa Leopolda became one of the homes of the banker Edmond Safra and his wife, Lily. The interiors were designed by Renzo Mongiardino. The Safras’ guests included members of the Grimaldi family, Princess Firyal of Jordan, Prince Amyn Aga Khan and Christina Onassis.
A party at the villa in 1988, with tulips flown in from Holland, food by the chef Roger Vergé and music by Sérgio Mendes, became famous on the Riviera. After Edmond Safra’s death in 1999, Lily Safra kept the villa.
2008: the sale that never happened
In the summer of 2008, Villa Leopolda made headlines around the world. The Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to buy the estate from Lily Safra for around 370 million euros, plus around 19.5 million euros for the furniture, making it, at the time, reportedly the most expensive house sale in the world. Early reports wrongly named Roman Abramovich as the buyer.
When the contract was signed, Prokhorov paid a deposit of 39 million euros, around 10 % of the price. A few months later, the global financial crisis struck, and in December 2008 he withdrew from the sale. His lawyers sought to recover the deposit, arguing among other things that there had been an administrative error in the procedure.
Under French property law, a buyer who withdraws after the cooling-off period generally forfeits the deposit. In 2010, a court in Nice ruled that Lily Safra could keep the 39 million euros, and ordered Prokhorov to pay interest on top. The legal battle continued until 2012, when Prokhorov’s final attempt to recover the deposit failed. Lily Safra announced that she would give the money to charity, notably medical research.
A legend of the Riviera
Lily Safra died in 2022. More than a century after King Leopold II, Villa Leopolda remains one of the most legendary estates on the Côte d’Azur, and one of the most valuable private homes in the world.
This article was written purely out of historical interest. Villa Leopolda is not a real estate listing.
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