The Kennedy clan is the closest thing to a royal family that the most powerful country in the world has known, born as a republic after breaking with the most influential monarchy in history, the English crown. Thus, they felt comfortable living in the lavishness that America associates with European kings: Domaine de Beaumont, which was their summer residence on the Côte d'Azur, has gone on sale for 31.5 million euros. Located in lush hills between Valbonne and Mougins, and halfway between Cannes and Antibes, it was designed by renowned architect Jacques Couelle, and reigns over a massive 18-hectare estate.
It was Joseph P. Kennedy, father of JFK, who chose the place when he made his debut as US ambassador in London in 1938. Decades later, the president would alternate another location on the French Riviera with the Palm Beach (Florida, USA) mansion.
The mansion, built in 1920, stands on top of a wooded hill overlooking the Mediterranean. It has 15 rooms and nine bathrooms in a total of 1,160 m2, explains the exclusive Sotheby's house, and is accessed after crossing an imposing gate surrounded by pavilions on both sides: one is the concierge's house and the other, that of the service and security post. At the entrance to the estate there is a third construction, a partially finished Provencal-style house with an area of 150 m2. The park has two water fountains, a 20 m heated marble pool, a pool house with an oven, ornamental ponds, an olive grove, a tennis court, aviaries and flower gardens. Part of the land, in the meadow, currently houses stables with horses.
The mansion welcomes the visitor with an impressive foyer and marble staircase. On the first floor are the formal dining room and breakfast room, living room, kitchen, laundry room and cinema and entertainment room. There is also a staff wing with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a temperature-controlled wine cellar. On the first floor is the master suite with its own bathroom and dressing room, three more en-suite bedrooms and a kitchen for breakfast. In the second, another five bedrooms and a third kitchen.
When John F. Kennedy became president, he continued to visit the Côte d'Azur, although he chose Roquebrune Cap Martin, a town on the Riviera almost touching Italy and more discreet than the Mougins and Vallbonne area, known for the beauty of its residences and where they have landed Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Paul Eluard, Winston Churchill, Christian Dior, Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel, among others.
