BOAT INTERNATIONAL – OCTOBER 2016: This super-chic Armani/Casa-designed villa in St Tropez was raised up to provide some spectacular sea views, says Francesca Steele in Boat International
Earlier this year, Giorgio Armani’s property division, Armani/Casa, completed its first property in London, the renovated townhouse at Queen’s Gate Place, near the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, for £35 million. It was the latest in a growing global portfolio that includes Miami, Mumbai, Istanbul and Rome. But one of the designer’s first property projects was a much more intimate affair.
It’s hard to find a good plot in St Tropez, but they did find one and spent a few years persuading the current owner to sell
Armani agreed to work on a residence in St Tropez for some Milanese friends who were looking for a holiday home they could potentially use all year round. “It’s incredibly hard to find good plots in St Tropez, but they found a spot they saw potential in and spent a few years persuading the current owner to sell,” says the agent (and owner’s son-in-law) Joshua Buckley. But it wasn’t yet perfect.
The land was too low and it took several years just to get planning permission and add enough soil o create a space where a home with sea views could be built.
Today, Villa L’Amour by Armani/Casa is a stunning blend of Tropezienne architecture that is sympathetic to the original fishermen’s cottages.
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Villa L’Amour by Armani/Casa is available to rent and buy, POA, through H Barnes & Co, London, +44 20 7499 3434
Francesca Steele is senior property writer at The Times