Historic Southern French villa to be sold for 300 million euros

Spirits company acquisition could see luxury villa worth 300 million euros also change hands. The sale of the famed Grand Marnier liquor to Gruppo Campari would include the historic Les Cèdres villa in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat. Family business Grand Marnier may soon be bought by Italian spirits company Gruppo Campari. If the transaction goes ahead, the beautiful villa Les Cèdres would be included in the sale. The family business is valued at nearly a billion euros, with the company itself worth 687 million and the villa estimated between 300 and 500 million euros.

Even if the transaction goes ahead at the lower end of the scale, the property would top the most expensive property sold recently, the Château Louis XIV located near Paris. The villa Les Cèdres was built around 1870 and sold in 1904 to the King of Belgium, Leopold II. In 1924 it was acquired by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle, the creator of Grand Marnier, before belonging from 1976 onwards to the Marnier-Lapostolle company. Perched in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat, between Nice and Monaco, the villa’s prestigious neighbors include Microsoft’s co-founder Paul Allenou and the Ferrero family. The property itself is surrounded by 35 acres of botanic gardens where 20,000 plant species are grown, including some used in the manufacturing of the Grand Marnier liquor. The garden is centered around a main avenue which culminates in a flower-planted roundabout at the foot of the symmetrical staircase leading to the villa’s entrance. The area northwest of the building contains four terraces adorned with flowerbeds and statues. In the southeastern portion of the property there is a rectangular shallow pond surrounded by flowerbeds in the King’s arms. Nearby are a small rose garden and an orange garden. The entrance to the path leading to the stables is framed by a sculpted arch, Corinthian columns and vine-covered trellises. The villa also boasts a reception hall, winter garden, chapel and stables. All features allowing it to fetch the towering sum of 300 million euros. The building itself, along with the stables and terraced gardens, have been included in the national heritage list since 2008. Highlighting the exclusive and historic nature of this property, Campari’s CEO, Robert Kunze-Concewitz believes that sales of this caliber occur only once or twice per decade. Photo credit: 1914-18.be