Situated just west of Cannes, the Château de La Napoule occupies a magnificent seafront site first settled by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. Originally erected by the Villeneuve family during the 14th century, the fortress was destroyed and rebuilt eight times before it was transformed into a glass factory in the 19th century. In 1918, the American artist Henry Clews acquired the ruined property, which he restored with his wife, Marie Elsie Whelen Goelet. Two towers, Saracen and Romanesque, were integrated into the walled complex ; a turreted gatehouse, tall ramparts and sea view terraces reflect the Clews’ own eclectic taste.
Exhibition and performance spaces include the vaulted Spencer Gallery and the White Gallery, formerly a miniature theater, as well as the main Courtyard.
Fountains and topiary embellish the formal gardens laid out by Marie Clews. It is Henry Clews’ sculptural decor, combining wit and turn-of-the-century sensibility, that makes the Château de La Napoule, registered as a monument historique, such a fascinating excursion into architectural history.
Marie Clews created the Foundation in 1951, eight years before her death, in memory of her husband and in order to preserve the Château as an arts center fostering international and interdisciplinary exchange.
The Villa Marguerite, once the home of the Princess of Pless, born Daisy Cornwallis-West, forms part of the estate. Set amongst orange and lemon trees, the sunny belle époque residence boasts a music room and a conservatory.
Misunderstood in the United States at the beginning of the Century, Clews settled down in Paris where his acquaintance with Rodin made him work hard his vocation for sculpture.
As of Clews arrival on the Côte d’Azur, at the end of World War I, a new trend shows in his work, more towards the primitive arts: as a matter of fact, at the Napoule, the artist opens up the doors of an imaginary world filled with fabulous monsters.
