The Palais Florentin

This property with an Italian Renaissance accent doesn't pass unnoticed.

On the road in Cannes known as the Chemin des Collines, this property

with an Italian Renaissance accent doesn't pass unnoticed. A step inside the heart of luxury in the form of architecture…

The tone is already set by the reception hall : a double staircase finished in gold-leaf leads to a gallery basking in soft light which enters through a stained-glass window. Each door opens onto one of the seven suites. The master suite offers a surface area of 120 m2. Luxury is evident in the choice of decorative items and the wealth of reception rooms. If construction of the Palais Florentin does not date back to the “Belle Epoque”, its festive allure certainly recalls it.

The tone is already set by the reception hall : a double staircase finished in gold-leaf leads to a gallery basking in soft light which enters through a stained-glass window. Each door opens onto one of the seven suites. The master suite offers a surface area of 120 m2. Luxury is evident in the choice of decorative items and the wealth of reception rooms. If construction of the Palais Florentin does not date back to the “Belle Epoque”, its festive allure certainly recalls it.

The locals in Cannes call them “twin houses”. They have a common entrance, belong to the same owner and share an identical architectural base. Only the finishing touches differ. As their names suggest, the Palais Oriental is an ode to the Arab style, while the Palais Florentin reflects what 15th-century Italy came up with in terms of the most luxurious of ornamental decoration. While the first boasts two swimming pools, one indoors, the second benefits from a stretch of water 37 metres long and a park of 8,500 m2 facing the Bay of Cannes. The living space of 1,200 m2 offered by the Palais Florentin gives priority to marble, gilding, chandeliers, crinoline curtains, Corinthian columns and sculpted mouldings. From the generosity of the proportions to their layout, everything indicates the building’s vocation. Here, one can imagine the sumptuousness of great receptions held in Cannes ; balmy summer evenings spent idling on the terraces of 1,500 m2. The first floor (the residence has three, reached by elevator) is devoted to living-rooms worthy of a prince’s palace. The property on the Chemin des Collines belongs to the same category as La Tropicale and Bel Horizon. The star system succumbs to its aura. Those attending the International Film Festival rent it on a regular basis. Elizabeth Taylor is its most renowned tenant.

By Laetitia Rossi - photos : Edith Andreotta - presse