Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

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The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild was built in 1905 for Charlotte Béatrice de Rothschild, French socialite and member of the impossibly wealthy Rothschild banking dynasty, to house her art collection. She had the Venetian-style villa surrounded by nine themed gardens, and a private zoo. On her death in 1934, Beatrice donated the estate to the Académie des Beaux Arts, who opened it to the public as a fine art museum. Among the 5,000 works in the estate’s collection are Gobelins tapestries, paintings by masters, luxurious porcelain, objects d’art from around the world, and antique furniture. Many of the items in the collection were saved from Parisian palaces, with some having belonged to Marie Antoinette and French kings in Versailles. The villa gardens offer a landscaped trip around the world, from the bamboo groves of Japan to the colors and fragrances of Provence, with historic stonework interspersed throughout.