Dating back to the late 16th century, it was Henri IV who, after purchasing the Château d'Antibes and its estate in 1604, received the domain as a wedding gift in 1608. At that time, it consisted of the stables and the horse barns of the Château d'Antibes.

 

Following his death, the Bastide was returned to the city, and it was King Louis XV who eventually bought it to spend his vacations there.

 

In the 1770s, the property was once again returned to the municipality of Antibes.

The Bastide du Roy then belonged to Mr. Dominique Mouttet, a farmer. At that time, the designation 'Bastide du Roy' appears in a document dated 1840.

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The farmer eventually sold the estate to the Countess de Miramon-Fargues, who undertook colossal landscaping works and ordered the addition of two levels to the building.

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Subsequently, it was the Brechneff family who purchased the Bastide du Roy.

(© Photos from the private collection of the Brechneff Family)

It was in 1924 that the Brechneff family sold a part of the property to the famous fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin. She intended to offer it as a wedding gift to her daughter Marie-Blanche and her son-in-law, Count Jean de Polignac, a cousin of the princely family of Monaco.

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Madame Lanvin wanted to make this place resemble her and remind her of her daily life in Paris.

Therefore, between 1927 and 1929, major renovations were undertaken on the property. They were entrusted to the architect Louis Süe for the building, and the landscape architect Jean-Claude-Nicolas Forestier, director of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, for the restoration of the green spaces. The latter created gardens with multiple facets and different styles. The French-style Garden, reminiscent of the gardens of Versailles; the Spanish-style Garden with its three espaliers, and the Music Garden, which would be used for all the concerts organized by the Lanvin family.

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Mr. Forestier, at Madame Lanvin's request, integrated into his project a certain number of olive trees, bringing the total to 365 olive trees, representing each day of the year. Four water features were built, referring to the four cardinal points North, South, East, and West. Three obelisks were also erected around the current swimming pool, topped with octahedra (eight-pointed stars) expressing protection, the four elements, and the solstices (winter and summer) and equinoxes (spring and autumn). The fourth octahedron is represented on the floor of one of the rooms in the house.

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For many years, the French-style, Spanish-style, and Music Gardens each had the pleasure of welcoming numerous personalities such as Francis Poulenc, Jean Cocteau, Colette, François Mauriac...

 

It was in 1971 that the estate was rented for the summer to Bianca and Mick Jagger when the Rolling Stones wished to record their album "Exile on Main Street" on the French Riviera.

As Mr. Jean Gismondi, a renowned antique dealer from Paris, searched for the perfect place to exhibit and welcome his clients, a friend who was a real estate agent told him about the Bastide du Roy.

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It was a revelation for Mr. Gismondi: he knew the Bastide du Roy well. In fact, it was the place where, accompanied by his teenage sweetheart, he used to sneak around as a teenager. At that time, he dared to say, "One day this mansion will be mine," without knowing that he would indeed become a tenant there starting in 1988 and an owner in 2004 when the heirs of the prominent Lanvin family decided to part with the property.

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During this time, prominent figures from the art world such as Arman & César also frequented the Bastide du Roy alongside the famous antique dealer. César even lived in this place for two years.

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In 2017, three years after their father's passing, the Gismondi sisters revived the property, establishing it as a must-visit destination in the world of events on the French Riviera. Sabrina and Divina Gismondi take pleasure in perpetuating art within the building through its layout and exhibitions that take place there.

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The soul and artistic imprint continue in this magical place thanks to the artists who frequent it and enjoy creating ever more daring performances.