Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

From 1890, Antoine Lumière, father of the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, had a vast estate built at La Ciotat, including a castle, villas, a private port and farmland. This area reflected its ambition to combine family life and industrial activities. The two twin villas, intended for his sons, were built on the seafront in the last quarter of the 19th century. Their eclectic architecture, typical of the seaside residences of the French Riviera, was characterized by cubic volumes, flat roofs and marked cornices. Each villa had three levels, with subsequent modifications such as adding rooms on the terraces.

The villas, although modified over time (reformation of the bays, redevelopment of the interiors), retain their original structure. They were classified as Historic Monument in 1998 for their facades and roofs, reflecting their heritage value. The Lumière domain in La Ciotat, less known than their Lyon factory, reveals an unknown aspect of their history: a place of resort and experimentation, far from the industrial effervescence of Lyon. Today, these villas recall the close link between the Light family, the industrial bourgeoisie of the time and the rise of secondary residences on the Mediterranean coast.

Unlike the Institut Lumière de Lyon, dedicated to the preservation of cinematographic heritage, the villas in La Ciotat do not house museums or archives. Their preservation is based on their status as a Historical Monument and their association with the heritage of the Lumière brothers, inventors of the cinematographer. Their exact location, 16-17 Avenue Franklin-Roosevelt, makes it a site accessible by appointment, offering a contrast with the cultural dynamism of the Lyon Institute. These villas thus embody the duality between private life and public heritage of a family that has revolutionized the history of arts and techniques.

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