Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat — Luxury villas & coastal living

True châteaux are rare on the French Riviera, where most great residences are villas. From Saint-Tropez to Èze, discover the coast's best-known castles, including the Château de la Croix des Gardes in Cannes, Christian Dior's Château de la Colle Noire, the Château de la Croë on Cap d'Antibes, and the Château Eza, some now private homes, others luxury hotels.

From the Modernist villas of the 1920s to today's contemporary homes, the French Riviera has drawn the world's most celebrated architects. Discover the work of Barry Dierks, Le Corbusier, Eileen Gray, Oscar Niemeyer, John Pawson, Pierre Yovanovitch, Peter Marino, SAOTA, Norman Foster and Philippe Starck, from Saint-Tropez to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.

In 1950, Jean Cocteau arrived at a newly built villa above the sea at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat for what was meant to be a week's stay. He stayed for months — and spent the next twelve years covering its walls and ceilings with mythological murals painted directly onto the plaster. The result was Villa Santo Sospir, the 'tattooed villa': one of the most remarkable private interiors on the Riviera, and a gathering place for Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and a generation of artists and writers who passed through its rooms.