Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Villa Domergue is an Art Deco residence built in Cannes between 1926 and 1932, designed by the painter Jean-Gabriel Domergue and created by architects Émile Molinié and Charles Nicod. Located at 15 Fiesole Avenue, it is inspired by Tuscan Renaissance villas, including a house seen in Fiesole, near Florence. The painter, fascinated by this style, draws the drawings himself, integrating a luminous workshop in apse for his work. The property, originally called "Villa Fiesole", becomes a place of life and creation for the couple.

Odette Maugendre-Villers, wife of Domergue and sculptress, built the gardens on terraces between 1926 and 1936, incorporating basins, waterfalls inspired by the Villa d'Este, and works of art such as an Etruscan sarcophagus intended for their burial. The couple resided there from 1932, collecting ancient busts and objects from their journeys. After the death of Jean-Gabriel in 1962, Odette bequeathed the villa to the city of Cannes in 1973, allowing its classification to historical monuments in 1990.

The villa, labeled "Twentieth Century Heritage", today hosts cultural events such as Jazz in Domergue in August or the final deliberation of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in May. Since 2000, the Domergue spouses have been resting in the garden, according to their wishes, after a legal amendment allowing their burial on the spot. The painter's workshop, facades and gardens, with their stone elements, have been protected since 1990.

The site thus combines artistic heritage and social life. The pavilions and arcades of the court of honour, partially destroyed, testify to the transformations of the place. The villa remains a symbol of the golden age of the French Riviera, mixing creation, heritage and cultural influence.

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