Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Saint-Amé was built in 1917 in Ramatuelle, on the peninsula of Saint-Tropez, at the initiative of Victor Larue, entrepreneur who made a fortune in Indochina with the Brasseries and Glacies of Indochina (B.G.I.). Passionate about botany, he built the park with greenhouses, rose groves, pergola and rock-style garden factories, while cultivating vineyards and creating a cellar. His wife, Rose, participates in these developments, making the estate a place combining architecture and nature.

When Victor Larue died around 1926, his nephew and heir, Mr. Palanque, sold the 45-hectare estate in 1938 to the Nehmé family, of Lebanese origin. The latter added a large aviary and retained the property until 1969, when it was abandoned for almost thirty years after its acquisition by a Grenobles real estate developer. The castle is also used as a setting for two films: Le Gendarme on a stroll (1970) with Louis de Funès and Bilitis (1977) by David Hamilton.

In the 2000s a new owner undertook a complete restoration of the castle, entrusting in particular the renovation of the stained glass windows to the artisan Carlo Roccella. The estate, which is not open to the public, is then acquired by Russian oligarch Nikolay Sarkisov. Despite these changes, the castle of Saint-Amé remains one of the few on the peninsula of Saint-Tropez to have retained its original botanical park, alongside other castles like Volterra or Borelli.

The nearby castle, La Messardière, also has a remarkable park of 14 hectares, highlighting the historical and landscape importance of this area of the French Riviera. The estate of Saint-Amé, although private, thus embodies a preserved architectural and natural heritage, linked to the industrial and cultural history of its former owners.

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