Cap Moderne

Irish designer Eileen Gray’s restored Villa E.1027, a white concrete house on stilts, opened to the public for the first time in 2015. The structure, built in 1929, is furnished with one-off replicas of the designer’s most iconic furniture and some original features that evoke Gray’s visionary lifestyle.

Also on display are four newly restored murals plus a copy of an outdoor black-and-white fresco, all by Le Corbusier in 1938. The Swiss architect painted the works six years after Gray had split up with her lover, Badovici, and moved out to build a new house in Menton.

The two-hour guided tours (by advance reservation only) take visitors through the villa as well as two adjacent landmark buildings: Le Corbusier’s tiny vacation beach hut, Le Cabanon, as well as L’Etoile de Mer, a terrace café lined with Corbusier-painted walls. Future plans for the site include a visitor center, a library and a bookshop in an empty villa next door.

Getting There: Drive down the coast past Monaco, or take the local train to Roquebrune Cap-Martin (Cabbé), where you will find a ticket booth at the SCNF station. A guide can lead you down the narrow seaside custom’s footpath to this remarkable modernist architectural site overlooking the sea.