A Star is Born

A century-old former tennis club is transformed into the jewel of Cap d’Antibes, marking a new era for this most iconic of billionaires’ playgrounds.   

The “diffused magic of the hot sweet south… the soft-pawed night and the ghostly wash of the Mediterranean far below” were the words F. Scott Fitzgerald used to immortalise Cap d’Antibes, the iconic Côte d’Azur peninsula that lies to the east of Cannes. 

The emerald strip and its rocky terracotta coastline, with the quaint former fishing village Juan-Les-Pins at its foot, formed the backdrop of his fourth novel Tender is the Night. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it during his time as a guest at what is now the prestigious Hôtel Belles Rives, the place to see and be seen in Juan-Les-Pins. 

A playground for the wealthy and famous, the haunt of luminaries such as Rudolph Valentino, Coco Chanel and Hollywood superstars Charlie Chaplin, Ava Gardner and Marilyn Monroe who would holiday at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc or perhaps next door at the waterfront holiday home of movie mogul Jack Warner, Villa Aujourd’hui. 

US billionaire Frank Jay Gould and his socialite wife Florence fell in love with the promontory’s buzz and beauty. In 1927 Gould built the neighbourhood grande dame, the Hôtel Provençal in Juan-Les-Pins with its tennis club further up the Cap, next door to Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. 

Since its 1920s heyday, Cap d’Antibes has grown in fame and stature, encircling a former fishing station, now known as Billionaire’s Bay, usually sprinkled with a handful of superyachts. Its property market has reflected this. According to Savills, each year the gap between supply and demand for top properties in the area widens. “In Cap d’Antibes, the number of prime residential property transactions for homes valued at over €5 million has doubled in the last two years (2022-23), compared to the two years prior (2020-21),” said the agent. 

It was from the deck of one such superyacht, nearly 20 years ago, that British billionaire property developer and philanthropist John Caudwell, first laid eyes on the elegant 10-storey Hôtel Provençal. Back then it was covered in scaffolding and in the process of renovation by British property developer Cyril Dennis. But the 2008 global financial crisis had scuppered plans when bank debts became much harder to service. 

Caudwell, the first British billionaire to sign the philanthropic Giving Pledge of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, has a mantra is to work on “only the finest residences in the world”. In 2014 he signed to purchase the hotel and its tennis courts, about a mile down the coast, and a handful of additional close-by buildings. It would mark the beginning of an era of new ultra-luxury residences on the peninsula renowned for its dearth of supply in the face of high demand for waterfront property. 

Now, the original Art Deco hotel has been renovated to the tune of £300 million into a collection of 39 apartments called Le Provençal, overlooking the azure bay and the island of Sainte-Marguerite beyond. High ceilings feature throughout, as do the large porthole windows, typical of Cap d’Antibes. An extensive spa has every conceivable luxury, floor-to-ceiling in Italian marble offset with Portuguese classical bas relief around the pool.   

Set for completion in early 2026, apartments are priced between €4-15 million. Eight are already spoken for, with buyers hailing from diverse corners of the globe, including France, Asia, the US and Northern Europe.   

That’s not all Caudwell has in store. Further up the Cap, the estate’s former tennis court has been transformed over into a nine-bedroom private villa called Domaine de la Belle Étoile. Located in the centre of Cap d’Antibes’ main artery, once upon a time the likes of Jackie Kennedy and the Duke of Windsor might have hit a few balls or enjoyed a post-match sharpener. Priced at upwards of €70 million, it breaks price records. Real-estate agent Knight Frank agrees “it is one of the most expensive properties on the open market in the area”. 

Domaine de la Belle Étoile neighbours the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, now owned by the Oetker family, and overlooks a charming little bay called Port de L’Olivette, where the warm shallow waters allow only the most modest Provençal fishing boats access (the superyacht tenders come ashore further down at Port Gallice). 

Domaine de la Belle Étoile translates as ‘beautiful star’ and this property is, in no exaggerated terms, a supernova. As Caudwell says, it is a “one-of-a-kind that exceeds all expectations”. The billionaire is talking from the deck of his superyacht Titania, having cycled to Cap d’Antibes from his home in Monaco with his partner Modesta Vžesniauskaitė, a former Olympic cyclist. “Domaine de la Belle Étoile is the jewel in the Riviera crown as a standalone estate, with an incredible villa, amenities, and guest cottages, all set in wonderful gardens and landscaped grounds,” he says.   

Entering via its private road, accessible by only one other neighbour, (a French family), is to enter an oasis of over one-and-a-half hectares of sensual landscaped Mediterranean gardens. The heady fragrance of jasmine, rosemary and lavender commingle, the birdsong punctuated only with the splashes of a fountain in the central courtyard. Lemon trees, tall cypresses and figs grow next door to classical beds of roses, their scent velvety honey in the warm air. A large ancient olive grove sits opposite a lawn that can be used for helicopter landings. A large vegetable patch is filled with every conceivable herb (Caudwell confesses to be herb-obsessed and has them in every meal, apart from “cheat days” when he enjoys Kentucky Fried Chicken) A glass-walled 75ft swimming pool and two guest houses — with potential for a third — complete the picture. 

The six-bedroom villa itself, spanning 14,200 square feet and built in local French stone, is the work of Nice-based architectural practice Atelier Baraness and Cawker, with interiors by Monaco-based design studio Casamanara. It’s an exercise in the art of the eye for detail. Each bathroom wall is laid with a different precious stone. Designed with spectacular hosting in mind, the main indoor-outdoor living room with cocktail bar can accommodate 200 guests, while there is parking for 15 cars. 

Caudwell is not a newcomer to the area. Previous projects on the Cap include the Parc du Cap (88 apartments) and Les Oliviers (six apartments,) just behind Le Provençal, which have sold out. 

It’s a lot of expensive property to come to market on a tiny sliver of coastline in a matter of years. But Lars Christiaanse, group director of sales, Caudwell, points to the recent Savills report that ranked the Côte d’Azur recently as the world’s top second-home location, thanks to its “enduring worldwide appeal”. 

New flight paths from the US are also enabling a new seam of buyers. “Le Provençal is unique, not only in regard to its history and fame but also in that there is nothing of comparable quality, with similar levels of amenity, security and service anywhere along the Cote d’Azur, including Monaco. In this respect Caudwell is creating ‘new’ demand, as property at this level was not previously available,” says Christiaanse. 

If the numbers bear out, it could be the start of a new constellation.