Château de Mandelieu-La Napoule

Situated just west of Cannes, the Château de La Napoule occupies a magnificent seafront site first settled by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago.
Originally erected by the Villeneuve family during the 14th century, the fortress was destroyed and rebuilt eight times before it was transformed into a glass factory in the 19th century.
In 1918, the American artist Henry Clews acquired the ruined property, which he restored with his wife, Marie Elsie Whelen Goelet.
Two towers, Saracen and Romanesque, were integrated into the walled complex ; a turreted gatehouse, tall ramparts and sea view terraces reflect the Clews’ own eclectic taste.
Exhibition and performance spaces include the vaulted Spencer Gallery and the White Gallery, formerly a miniature theater, as well as the main Courtyard.

A romantic english garden style
Fountains and topiary embellish the formal gardens laid out by Marie Clews.
It is Henry Clews’ sculptural decor, combining wit and turn-of-the-century sensibility, that makes the Château de La Napoule, registered as a monument historique, such a fascinating excursion into architectural history.
Marie Clews created the Foundation in 1951, eight years before her death, in memory of her husband and in order to preserve the Château as an arts center fostering international and interdisciplinary exchange.

Villa Marguerite
The Villa Marguerite, once the home of the Princess of Pless, born Daisy Cornwallis-West, forms part of the estate.
Set amongst orange and lemon trees, the sunny belle époque residence boasts a music room and a conservatory.
Marie laid out for the Chateau a beautiful garden.
French style is harmoniously mixed up with Romantic English garden style.
A free treasure hunt is proposed to each child.
It offers a discovery of the beautiful formal gardens.
A funny way to visit a museum!
Young New-Yorker dandy, Clews showed more interest in artistic activity than in the bank family business.
Misunderstood in the United States at the beginning of the Century, Clews settled down in Paris where his acquaintance with Rodin made him work hard his vocation for sculpture.
Clews autodidactic skills had him portray his contemporaries with realism at the limit of caricature, in a black humor full of irony, giving no limit to his whimsical spirit.
As of Clews arrival on the Côte d’Azur, at the end of World War I, a new trend shows in his work, more towards the primitive arts: as a matter of fact, at the Napoule, the artist opens up the doors of an imaginary world filled with fabulous monsters.
Very much appreciated of the experienced collectors the Clews’ “statuaire” has been exposed, among others, at the MMOA (New York), at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and at the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris.

TEA ROOM
Our tea room is open
from 11:00am to 5:00 pm everyday from april to the end of september
 
The Château is open everyday
february 7 to november 7
open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
tours at : 11:30 am, 2: 30 pm, 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm

november 8 to february 6
Week ends and school vacations
open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
tours at : 11:30 am, 2: 30 pm, 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm

Week days
open from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
tours at 2: 30 pm, 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm

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