Eileen Gray’s Modernist E-1027 Villa Reopens to Visitors on the French Riviera
Built as a love token by the trailblazing furniture designer and self-taught architect, the stunning coastal house, now hailed as a masterwork, has been meticulously restored to its original splendor.
Built as a love token by the trailblazing furniture designer and self-taught architect, the stunning coastal house, now hailed as a masterwork, has been meticulously restored to its original splendor.
In the 1920s, when she was already a successful furniture designer and major figure within the Parisian Art Deco movement, the formidable Eileen Gray set out to complete her first—and most famous—architectural project. The Irish designer’s acquaintance, French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier, had recently published his seminal Vers une architecture (1923) essay collection, and her then-partner, Jean Badovici, was an architecture critic who favored modernism. In 1926, Gray bought a plot of land overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, where she set out to build a romantic seaside villa for herself and Badovici.
The two-story E-1027 villa resembles an Art Deco yacht moored upon a craggy ledge. Gray incorporated many nautical elements into the building’s design, including the band of horizontal windows, the mast-like flagpole, the balconies with white rails and blue-canvas awnings, and the softening curves that kept the white-plaster exterior from appearing too harsh and angular.
Photo: Manuel Bougot
Gray, who was then in her forties, camped on the rocky land (in a tent of her own design, of course) in order to observe the topography of the site, as well as the path of the sun and winds. Her preliminary sketches for the villa included overlays of the sun’s movement during the day, as well as the predicted pathways through the house that its various inhabitants—staff, guests, and residents—would take. Gray used these overlays to orient the house on the site and to lay out the position of the various rooms. For the next three years, the Irish designer traveled back and forth between the Côte d’Azur construction site and Paris, creating new, multiuse furniture for the space—some of which would be sold in her Parisian design shop.
The unadorned, white-painted facade of the cube-like villa provides a clean foil for E-1027’s raison d'etre: a glorious view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Photo: Manuel Bougot
Gray completed the two-story villa in 1929, with some collaboration from Badovici. E-1027’s name is a playful nod to the couple’s initials (‘E’ for ‘Eileen’; ‘10’ and ‘2’ for the alphabet order of ‘J’ and ‘B’ representing ‘Jean Badovici’; and ‘7’ for the ‘G’ in ‘Gray’). Among the early guests at the coastal getaway was Le Corbusier, who, it is said, became smitten by the design of E-1027. Gray’s attention to detail and personal design touches are evident everywhere a visitor looks in the villa, from the chic, built-in and freestanding furniture, to the deftly orchestrated path of sunlight through the rooms, and the balcony’s unblinking gaze over the sparkling Mediterranean waters.
The living room was restored with sea-inspired furnishings including a large nautical map and a low-slung Transat chair that Gray designed based on the deck seating on transatlantic cruise ships. Deep-blue accents mark the rugs, daybed, and room dividers.
Photo: Manuel Bougot
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