Lifestyle

La Pausa: Chanel goes home

Returning Heritage

08.10.2015

By Buro247

La Pausa: Chanel goes home

Overlooking the scenic view of the ocean and the picturesque Cap-Martin on the French Riviera, the La Pausa villa was birthed as a culmination of Gabrielle Chanel’s life and success as her career began to peak in the late 1920s. La Pausa was the only of Mademoiselle Chanel’s homes that was exclusively designed, built and decorated to her personal tastes. The iconic designer had bought the land on 30th September 1928, and after it was completed in January 1930, she frequently stayed there with her then lover, the Duke of Westminster.

Brimming with influences from Aubazine architecture – the commune where Mademoiselle Chanel had spent her adolescence in a former abbey that was transformed into an orphanage – the fashion icon furnished the villa in simple and modern designs that were fresh and proved to be an instant hit. It is here that Mademoiselle Chanel would entertain her friends in a relaxed and casual atmosphere, where her guests included the Duke of Westminster and Misia Sert, as well as artists and writers like Jean Cocteau, Serge Lifar, Pierre Reverdy and Salvador Dali.

Gabrielle Chanel’s legacy has continued to live on through fashion, fragrances and lifestyles, but following the Duke of Westminster’s death in 1954, La Pausa was sold fully furnished to American writer and publisher Emery Reves, who continued to breath energy into the villa as notable friends such as Winston Churchill, Greta Garbo and Jackie Onassis would visit the residence.

Today, the villa’s ownership has returned to the Chanel house, marking a milestone for the brand’s rich heritage and remembering a significant testimony to its creator’s life. La Pausa will soon be restored to its original spirit and continue to radiate the life, culture and values that make up Chanel.

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