03/18/2023
In Sicily, a baroque and flamboyant villa by Jacques Garcia has been rehabilitated by the decorator Jacques Garcia; this 17th century monastery in ruins has been transformed into a voluptuous residence with rococo accents.
His Château de Champ de Bataille, in Normandy, has been renovated with ardor and passion; Jacques Garcia had to invent a new challenge. It is in the superb isolation of the tops of a hill in the vicinity of Noto, a Sicilian baroque city, that the star decorator has set his sights. “While on vacation in the region, I discovered this vast agricultural property which I fell in love with. I started out living in a house in the middle of olive groves before becoming interested in the remains of an ancient monastery overlooking the Asinara Valley. The work only took seven years!“ he laughs.
In this UNESCO heritage site, although Italian legislation prohibits construction, it allows the restoration – or even relocation – of existing buildings on the condition that they are not enlarged.
"This 17th century priory was erected on the foundations of a 12th century Norman villa, itself established on the ruins of a 10th century Moorish palace, placed on the rubble of a Romanesque house which replaced a villa Greek.”
This clearly shows the interior designer's taste for places steeped in history, nurturing his talent for decors evocative of the splendours of a sublimated past.
Of the original construction devastated by an earthquake in 1693, only a long gallery remained serving a few vaulted rooms.
“The floor and the cells of the monks being no more, one could no longer really speak of an abbey: I therefore redesigned the building in the form of a villa. As a good Christian, I was not going to plagiarize a monastic decor to define a framework dedicated to holidays, so I turned to what makes the architectural specificity of Sicily: the Baroque."
Flamboyance and sublimated past high ceilings are adorned with frescoes supporting Murano glass chandeliers, whose lights are reflected on the églomisé mirrored panels embedded in the woodwork; silk doors; floors paved with majolica: the magnificence of the place dazzles.
Jacques Garcia took pleasure in recreating the decorations of salons from ancient Sicilian palaces. In the large gallery, the huge canvases attributed to the studio of Paul Rubens were commissioned for a monastery near Palermo. The seats in the master bedroom belonged to Joachim Murat, brother-in-law of Napoleon, once king of the two Sicilies.
The pieces collected here are of museum quality. However, the flamboyance of the place does not take precedence over comfort. With seven bedrooms – most of them in the form of suites – three living rooms, a dining room and furnished terraces, the residence can simultaneously accommodate a number of guests. Beyond the very layout of Villa Elena, it is the entire agricultural area, now dotted with ancient sculptures and bodies of water, which has been completely redesigned. An ancient temple attached to the main building serves as a pool house or guest house, and an Arabic-style folly is under construction, as is a Greek theatre.
“Rather than fitting out one house, I said to myself, why not fit out several? As many houses as I could decorate to my taste around different themes."
As many accommodation possibilities as well. Working with the landscape architect Patrick Pottier, he had the paths lined with cypresses, planted fields of olive trees, orchards of lemon trees, orange trees and pomegranate trees on the hillsides. It remains to build low walls along the estate, to continue the reconstruction of buildings. "I come as often as possible; I would like to tell you to rest there and enjoy the beauty of the landscape, but in truth it is especially for work! Jacques Garcia draws his energy and joy of living from his projects."
The pieces collected are of museum quality, such as these seats that belonged to Prince Murat.
