La Belle Terrasse

THE APARTMENT

La Belle Terrasse is our “jewel in the crown.” It’s a one-bedroom apartment located in the Old Town of the romantic Romanesque village of Villefranche-sur-Mer Old Town with a spacious terrace on the “front row,” meaning that it’s directly overlooking the sea with nothing to obscure the view—and that view on the port and the peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is drop-dead stunning! I call it “The Million Dollar View.”

The apartment is located at 9 rue Pasteur at the end of one of the village’s primary streets, rue Poilu on which there are lots of restaurants and amenities, parallel to the port overlooking a sweet “Place” with a working fountain; Place Conseil. The entry to the property is dated on the door in carved stone—“1789”!

If you know Villefranche-sur-Mer, then you know that with so many levels, easy access is very important. There are a minimal amount of stairs to the front door of the apartment and it is easily accessed by stretches of flat paths (for easy rolling of your suitcases) from the available parking on both the east and west sides. There’s a flat pathway from the Place du Conseil that takes you directly to the local train station (five minutes by foot) that takes you all along the coast and in the other direction, you can take the same flat street (rue Poilu) with just a few steps to the main parking lot at the entry to Villefranche-sur-Mer (five minutes by foot), so the location is ideal in a town that is normally quite challenging. It’s also just a short walk to the buses on the Basse Corniche, so you don’t need a car in order to explore the entire Riviera.

Just at the Place du Conseil, is something very obscure indeed. This is the very the beginning of rue Obscure, a hidden medieval street that runs 430 feet long under the buildings, so it looks more like a tunnel than a street. It was built in 1260 as a pathway that let the soldiers shuffle through the village with ease and it’s one of Villefranche-sur-Mer’s not-so-hidden treasures. At the other end of rue Obscure is a plaque cemented into the ground—a rendering by artist Jean Cocteau that reads:

Quand je regarde Villefranche
Vois ma jeunesse
Fassent les hommes qu’elle ne change jamais

Jean Cocteau became our inspiration for the apartment’s design and décor. It underwent complete renovation and an update to make it just as luxurious as are all of our properties. We’ve done the floors in a classic terrazzo, updated the kitchen, created a new and larger bathroom, and decorated the entire apartment “haute gamme” in classic Provençal/Côte d’Azur style, all at the hands of designer Christine Collier.

The moment you enter, you have a view of the sea from the kitchen window, and there is another fabulous sea view from the living room/dining room. East facing with a broad expanse, the light pours in all day long, and as lovely as the apartment will be, it’s the larger-than-10-square-meter terrace where we will be sure to find you! And the terrace is heated it so that you can use it all year long.

The kitchen is on this main level as you enter, leading directly to the terrace. It is fully equipped with absolutely everything you need to cook gourmet meals— all while gazing out the window to see the aqua blue sea below. Also on this level, just as you enter, is the toilet with a sink as is a washer/dryer and lots of storage.

Down just eight steps to the right takes you to the living room/dining room, bathroom and bedroom. The living room has a floor-to-ceiling window on the sea and a complete mirrored wall behind the sofa bed allows you to have non-stop views of the sea while you’re lounging, watching TV or dining inside.

The large and spacious bathroom is just to the right as you enter the salon, with a luxury shower, double sink, towel warmer and great make-up lighting.

Just further on is the bedroom, also large and spacious, with a floor-to-ceiling closet that will house more than you’d ever need. There is a dresser and a queen size bed that can separate to twins for those who prefer sleeping apart. The window in the bedroom overlooks Place Conseil, the charming Villefranche-sur-Mer buildings, and when open, you can hear the trickle of the fountain in the Place. Just below that window of the yellow stuccoed building is a fuchsia Bougainvillea that will put a smile on your face every time you pass through the Place and when you see it from the window.

The staircase that was once in a straight line going down, now elegantly curves down to the living room with a handmade iron railing and terrazzo tile surface, but the terrazzo floors throughout make for a perfect setting.

The bathroom tile is the most gorgeous color aqua blue–almost as pretty as the sea itself. There is a large shower with both a rainhead and hand-held shower heads, a double sink, a towel warmer, a full wall of mirrors plus great make-up lighting. One could get lost in there and never come out.

Beautiful Pierre Frey fabric makes up the headboards and draperies in the bedroom that pull together the beautiful subtle colors of the Riviera. The couch in the living room is overstuffed and comfy-yummy. It doubles as a sofabed in case the owners have a guest or two.
A secretary-style desk fits in the niche in the living room, equipped with a printer and bookshelves above it for all the guidebooks the owners want to keep on hand.

But best of all is the terrace! Brilliantly the designer mirrored the back wall of the terrace so that no matter where you are on it, you see the sea. The terrace is lit and heated at the flick of a button with two units overhead. A large wooden slat table, that expands, can seat up to eight comfortably and there are plenty of chairs including two that are lounging…as we suspect this is where you will want to be in just about any weather.

Professional management takes care of all of the operations of the property. With a concierge for the property who takes care of it and the owners’ needs, and the owners have a special Facebook page they use to communicate and post photos.

To reserve your share, contact us at [email protected].