Description
Book SynopsisThe stories behind the most glamorous houses on the French Riviera. In 1926 Barry Dierks, a young American architect, arrived in Paris and fell in love with France. With his partner, an ex-officer in the British Army, he built a white, flat-roofed Modernist masterpiece that rested on the rocks below the Esterel, with views across the Mediterranean. They called it Le Trident. From the moment it was built, it captivated the Riviera. As commissions for more villas flooded in, Barry Dierks and Eric Sawyer, 'those two charmers', flourished at the heart of Riviera society. Over the years, Dierks would design and build over 70 of the Riviera's most recognisable villas for clients ranging from Somerset Maugham's Villa Mauresque and Jack Warner's Villa Aujourd'hui to the Marquess of Cholmondeley's Villa Le Roc, and Maxine Elliott's Chateau de l'Horizon, later the home of Aly Khan and Rita Hayworth.
Riviera Dreaming tells the dazzling story of the lives, loves and adventures that played out behind the walls of these glamorous houses and provides an unparalleled portrait of life on the Cote d'Azur at the height of the Jazz Age.
Trade ReviewThis well-written book is packed with history and glamorous insider stories of the rich and famous, contrasted with the hardships of local residents living under German occupation during World War II. Meticulously researched by long-term resident Maureen Emerson it makes a riveting read; perfect summer holiday reading. Bet you won’t be able to put it down. -- Mary S. Lovell, author of The Mitford Girls
Maureen Emerson has created a fascinating account of the South of France in times of glorious peace and hideous war, telling the stories of those who made their homes there. She evokes a particular generation in this wonderful book. -- Hugo Vickers
Table of ContentsList of Plates Acknowledgements Part One – Lights and Music 1. Le Trident – 1925: Barry and Eric 2. La Mauresque – 1926: Somerset Maugham 3. The Glamorous Years 4. The Casa Estella – 1931: Beatrice Mai Cartwright 5. Le Château De L’horizon – 1932: Maxine Elliott 6. Villa La Reine Jeanne – 1933: Paul-Louis Weiller 7. Villa Le Roc – 1934: George Cholmondeley 8. Le Moulin – 1935: Eric Cipriani Dunstan 9. The Villa Aujourd’hui – 1938: Jack Warner
Part Two – All Change 10. Méfiance 11. The American Train – Barry 12. Waiting for Melpomene – Eric 13. La Domaine du Sault – Isabel Pell 14. The Champagne Campaign 15. The Hotel Martinez 16. All Change
Notes Bibliography
