Château de la Croë

The Château de la Croë is a large villa on the Cap d’Antibes peninsula in France, within roughly eight hectares of grounds. Armand-Albert Rateau designed the villa in a classical style. Built for newspaper executive Sir Pomeroy Burton, the property reaches the sea and includes extensive staff buildings. Its Victorian layout originally included twelve bedrooms for family and staff.

The château became a residence for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who brought English furniture, silver and porcelain. Winston Churchill celebrated his fortieth wedding anniversary there. Italian and German troops occupied the château during the war, and a later fire damaged the property and surrounding trees. The grounds combine Californian and Mediterranean plant species.

Later restoration added a fifteen-metre rooftop swimming pool, a basement gym and a cinema, alongside individually made fittings. Landscape designer Peter Wirtz shaped the landscaped grounds. The château connects architecture with the changing fortunes of prominent owners, from Aristotle Onassis to Stavros Niarchos. Its recorded history spans nearly a century of changing ownership.