In the north of the Cap-Ferrat peninsula between Monaco and Nice, on a hill above the Mediterranean Sea, sits a pink villa with red tiles, surrounded by magnificent gardens and known as the “Villa Île-de-France.” Some thirty architects worked between 1905 and 1912 on the construction of the elegant structure for Baroness Charlotte Beatrice Efrossy of the famous Rothschild family, who was married to Maurice Efrossy, a member of a family of Russian bankers.
The result was impressive. The Greek-style building was surrounded by seven different gardens, magnificent statues and exotic vegetation, and the Baroness, an art lover, created the environment of her happy childhood, filling its spaces with paintings and precious art pieces. The Baroness, who owned other houses in Monaco, Deauville and Paris, passed away in 1934, and the house and gardens, including the many art objects, were donated to the French Academy and are now a museum open to the public.
Villa Ephrosei – Many Stories to Tell
Among the many stories you can hear at the museum about the whimsical baroness and her husband is the story of the lavish wedding Beatrice held for Diane. However, it was not a wedding, as Beatrice was childless, and the event in question was actually planned for her beloved dog.
In January 1897, several newspapers reported that Beatrice's beloved poodle, Diane, had married her father's handsome little poodle, Major. An article in the Washington, D.C. Morning Times stated:
The rich have a new hobby – dog weddings. And the creator of the new fashion is none other than Madame Efrossy, daughter of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild and wife of Maurice Efrossy. It has long been known that Madame Efrossy is a dog lover, a trait she inherited from her mother, and now the lady has found herself a new amusement in the form of a dog wedding, which she held at her home on the Avenue des Bois de Boulogne in Paris.” The article added that “the bride appeared dressed in a white satin dress trimmed with lace, and a veil decorated with orange blossoms, while the daring groom was dressed in a perfect evening suit, a coat with a niche for a tail, a waistcoat, special leather shoes and gloves. And from the hem of his coat hung a delicate orchid…..
The newspaper insisted that Beatrice had sent out engraved and decorated invitations to hundreds of her friends in advance, asking them to bring their pets dressed in evening gowns. And even more ridiculously, the person who officiated the wedding ceremony was none other than a bulldog. Upon publication of the news, Maurice Efrossy (whose presence at the wedding was not mentioned in the article), completely denied that the wedding had even taken place, and even demanded that the newspapers that published it retract their statements and issue an apology.
Several newspapers did comply with the request, but it wasn't long before reports began to surface of an invitation to a duel sent by Efrossy to Paul Xeniak, the author of the story. Efrossy and Xeniak, of course, denied the rumor, and the newspapers were once again forced to back down.
It was no secret that Beatrice treated her pets as if they were her children, and according to the estate's gardener, she even had intimate conversations with them. But to this day, no one knows whether the wedding took place, or whether the whole story was concocted by a journalist eager to make a joke, or whether he was merely commenting on what he saw as the frivolous lives of the wealthy.
Whether or not the incident occurred, it seems that Maurice Efrossy, the powerful banker, had grown tired of his wife's whims and didn't want her strange antics exposed to the public. He was content to share his home with her two beloved monkeys and her pet mongoose.
We can no longer ask Mr. Efrossy what really happened, and he is no longer alive to dispel the stories and that other rumor that insists that he is actually Joseph Stalin's father. But you can see the miniature chairs that her dog and pet mongoose used to sleep in in the couple's bedroom, which is on display in the villa, which is now a museum.
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