The wacky £300million bubble mansion on the French Riviera owned by fashion designer Pierre Cardin has hit the market again five years after it was last listed.
Photographs reveal the bizarre property’s curved design, with standout features including ten unique suites, 11 bathrooms, three swimming pools, luxurious gardens and an amphitheatre that seats 500 with spectacular views of the Mediterranean.
Italian-born Cardin, 97, bought the wacky Palais Bulles, or Bubble Palace, at auction in the early 90s after the death of its French industrialist owner and used it to host many debauched after-parties and runway shows over the decades.
Stars on his guestlists included the likes of Marion Cotillard, Rhys Ifans, Dakota Fanning and Pierce Brosnan, and even Prince Harry’s ex-beau Cressida Bonas. They have all posed under its terracotta-coloured bubbles during shows or parties. And scenes of Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie were shot there.
Cardin last listed the futuristic home in 2015 for £300million but it appears it did not attract any takers and now it has been put back on sale.
It is now on the market with Christies International Real Estate and although the price of the architectural masterpiece is under wraps, it is estimated the house will attract offers of around £305million.
The website describes the property as being at the ‘forefront of contemporary architecture’.
The 1,200-square-metre mega-complex was built between 1975 and 1989 by Hungarian architect Antti Lovag, who died aged 84 in 2014.
He was inspired by ‘ancestral homes’ such as prehistoric caves for the forms of his buildings, which is why you won’t see many right-angles inside the Bubble Palace.
It is built over six undulating levels on a rocky outcrop of the Massif de L’Esterel – a volcanic mountain range known for its red hues.
According to Cardin, who has dressed some of the world’s most beautiful women, the round forms are inspired by ‘the body of a woman’ and ‘everything is absolutely sensual’.
He previously mused: ‘Clinging to the rocky Estérel, this palace has become my own bit of paradise.
‘Its cellular forms have long reflected the outward manifestations of the image of my creations. It is a museum where I exhibit the works of contemporary designers and artists.’
The uber-eccentric pad was once hired by high-end fashion house Dior for a show to coincide with the Cannes Film Festival.
Cressida Bonas was one of the high-profile models and actresses Dakota Fanning and Zoe Kravitz were in the star-studded crowd.
The Palais Bulles’ theatre, which overhangs the sea, caused trouble when it was added to the original structure. Cardin went ahead with the project even though he did not receive planning permission.
He was fined by a court who demanded he return the site to its original state. Building continued after a pause to regularise the situation.
The idea of selling-up has been on Cardin’s mind for some time and he has continually spoken of wanting to offload his global label for €1billion (£835million).
He hoped for a similar sum from the sale of his iconic Parisian restaurant Maxim, which is franchised in major cities throughout the world. In 2009, he sold his textile businesses in China for £160million.
He was the first fashion designer to exploit his brand to an unprecedented degree, putting his initials not only on his clothes but on thousands of products including frying pans and tins of sardines.
But, over recent years, he mused: ‘I want to sell the entire brand. I know I will not be there in a few years and business must go on.’
Cardin has no children to whom he can leave his vast fortune, once regretting that none came from his four-year love affair with celebrated French actress Jeanne Moreau.
He was the youngest of six children born to Italian parents. A sister, with whom he lived for long periods, died at the age of 100.
