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The Vigie
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 © SBM |
Prior to 1900, the land located between Saint Roman and the sea was mainly undeveloped. A cottage, a shelter for fishermen, fields planted with olive trees, carob trees, pines and orange trees belonged for the most part to Mr de Loth, Mayor of Monaco, Mr Briguiboul, Director of the "Circle of Foreigners" (in 1859) and Sir William Ingram, a rich English baronet.
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In 1898, Camille Blanc, President of S.B.M., founded the "Société Immobilière Française de Monte-Carlo" (French Real Estate Company of Monte Carlo) which, in 1910, leased Mr Loth’s land between the route de Menton and the rail track for a period of 14 years.
S.B.M built greenhouses on the land for its plantations and after extending the lease for a further 35 years, purchased the land in 1926. It also bought land owned by Briguiboul situated towards the sea including the Veille peninsula, which was later distorted into "Vieille".
Between 1926 and 1927, S.B.M constructed the whole of the Country Club on this land, officially opened on 27th February 1928 and the Beach, which was opened on 16th July 1928.
The upper section of the cape still belonged to Sir W. Ingram.
Sir W. Ingram, baronet of Westgate-on-sea (County of Kent) and Lady Elise Collingwood-Stirling, his wife, had bought land from a certain Mr Van der Wirck in 1898. The land consisted of two plots, one next to the Mr Loth’s land, below the Saint Roman tennis courts and the other in the upper section of the Vieille, then known as "La Veglia".
The first plot of Mr Ingram’s land below the tennis courts was leased by S.B.M. in 1914 for 25 years in order "to increase the surface area of the proliferation gardens".
In 1925, S.B.M acquired the land. Following Sir William Ingram’s death, there was an extremely long lawsuit as his heirs claimed that they had already sold the land to a certain Mr Broocke-Hitching. The case was finally resolved and S.B.M. became sole owner.
The interest of this plot of land lay mainly in the fact that it had a subterranean source, a discovery made by Sir Ingram himself.
This watering hole, christened the "Ingram source" was exploited by S.B.M for many years before being permanently handed over to the Monegasque Water Board in 1960.
In 1902, Sir William Ingram built a magnificent villa on the land situated on the summit of the peninsula: villa "La Vigie" which was considered one of the most beautiful residences along the Riviera. The villa gardens contained rare and chiefly tropical species. Birds flew about freely in the park and a huge aviary housed various predators, such as eagles and condors…
Sir Ingram hosted grandiose parties there and the villa became one of the most renowned venues amongst the high society of the French Riviera.
In 1919, Sir Ingram sold his villa to Mr Broocke-Hitching for £35,000. The Londoner would only keep the house for a few years as his business affairs in England weren’t going well. "La Vigie" was put up for auction on 7th March 1923. Few buyers showed interest and it was only after the auction had been extended that Princess Tsouloukidze became owner for the sum of 400,000 F. Of American nationality, Princess Tsoulouskidze lived in the villa until 1939.
In February 1939, Mrs Emma Shiverick Dunbar (who lived in Avenue Kléber in Paris) became owner of the villa, but a few months later abandoned it. The arrival of German troops in the Principality during the Second World War would dramatically transform "The Vigie".
An excellent observation point, it was very rapidly occupied. Its gardens were hollowed into deep trenches and covered with barb wire; mines were planted making the work of mine-clearers extremely dangerous after the war. A small fort, which is still visible today, crowned the cape.
At the end of hostilities, access to the villa was again possible, but it had undergone significant damage.
The “Société Immobilière de Nice” became the owner. The only members of this company were Mrs Elisabeth Anna Anderson known as "Léna Orn" (who lived in Glasgow and was the wife of an English baronet, Sir John Mac Taggart) and Mrs H. Mesrine from Nice.
Finally in 1952, S.B.M, realising that the land encompassed in the Beach complex did not belong to them, bought the villa together with its land for a total amount of 35 million francs. Sir John Taggart also received 5 million francs for expenses.
The villa remained vacant until 1986. After being restored, it was occupied by Mr Karl Lagerfeld until 1997.
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