French Riviera | The Selvedge Yard

Luxurious bath, "Palais Bulles" in Theoule-sur-Mer, France -- Designed by fashion designer Pierre Cardin and architect Antti Lovag, ca. 1970s.

“Palais Bulles” was an inspired collaboration between fashion designer Pierre Cardin (it was to be his home) and the Finnish architect Antti Lovag. Nestled in the stunning red rock face, this masterpiece of modern design was built utilizing entirely curved surfaces. The network of anti-seismic, self-sustaining bubbles extend over almost 5,000 square feet, and are dramatically perched 2,000 feet above the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea. The views, they say, are absolutely unbelievable.

“Palais Bulles”, or The Bubble Palace, sits atop a hillside in Theoule-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The futuristic mansion, comprised of rounded rooms with rotating floors, was designed by Pierre Cardin and architect Antti Lovag in 1968.

Continue reading →

In the summer of ’71, The Rolling Stones, seeking shelter from their UK tax woes, exiled to the South of France. Keith Richards set up house with Anita Pallenberg and their son Marlon in Villa Nellcôte— a 16 room waterfront mansion that once served as Gestapo headquarters for the Nazis during WWII. The infamy continued with it now best remembered among rock fans as the grand flop-house where Exile On Main Street was recorded.

French photographer Dominique Tarle chronicled perhaps the most notorious house party ever, and had full access to goings-on over a period of six crazy months. He later recounted to the New York Times– ”They built a studio in the basement of Keith’s house because the band knew it would be easiest for Keith,” says Dominique Tarlé, who had an all-access pass inside the villa for six months. “Engineers and technicians slept over, illegal power lines from the French railway system juiced their instruments, and when the temperature hit 100, they rehearsed with their pants off. A carnival of characters paraded through– Terry Southern, Gram Parsons, John Lennon, even a tribal band from Bengal… dope dealers from Marseille; petty thieves, who stole most of the drugs and half the furniture; and hangers-on, all of them there to witness what was happening.”