Villa Cosima

White facade and Italian-style balustraded terrace, citrus trees and cement fruit baskets, swimming pool overlooking the sea… Your first visit to Villa Cosima will undoubtedly transport you back to the golden age of the Côte d’Azur. Built in the 1930s, the villa has never undergone any radical transformation. Still, it has been renovated with taste and attention to detail by a local family who has owned it since 2019, succeeding an Italian family. They made it possible to enhance the villa’s original beauty with every modern comfort for a perfect dolce vita stay. Spread over 245m2, the 6 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms offer breathtaking views, inviting the garden and the sea into the house. Terrazzo floors skilfully restored by Venetian craftsmen, painted ceilings, and a period fireplace in a variety of marbles bear witness to a style that has been subtly lightened with a cheerful spirit worthy of the French Riviera in mind.

Part of the house was redesigned by a local architect with a primary focus on exterior views. New openings, always respecting the symmetries of the facades, let in extraordinary light, contributing to the villa’s unique atmosphere. At the same time, the circulation was redefined to suit the Mediterranean lifestyle.

On the second floor, a color scheme was chosen room by room : soft tones of pink, blue and green can be found even in the bathroom terrazzos. In the bedrooms, the installation of parquet flooring and the creation of bespoke joinery introduce wood as a new material, along with rattan caning.

When we say “dolce vita“, we mean “outdoor living”, and Villa Cosima will not let you down in this respect. First, every room on the first floor opens onto a large terrace, the ideal setting for endless summer dinners. In fact, the entire garden has been redesigned around the existing olive trees, whose olives are harvested, and large euphorbias, introducing only endemic or acclimatized Mediterranean plants. Maritime pines and palm trees border the garden itself. The infinity pool (on both sides!) blends into the surrounding scenery, with views of the sea and the ramparts of old Antibes. “We kept the diving board and the retro blue tiles from the ’70s, but introduced blue-gray-green mosaics for the overflow and its basin,” explains Chloé’s mother, Isabelle. Planters were created on either side of the shower to set this pool area, accessible by a flight of steps from the terrace, at the heart of the garden. Below the pool is a petanque court that ends in a citrus path: depending on the season, you’ll find grapefruit, mandarins, sweet and bitter oranges, and lemons (for limoncello!)… For the more adventurous, a discreet path below leads to creeks with pebble beaches for a cool dip in any season.