It was Viviane Romance, one of France’s greatest actresses between the 1930s and 1950s, who first spent a fortune on the Château de Saint Jeannet in an attempt to modernize the 11th-century building with views over the French Riviera.
However, after her death in 1991, the building near Nice was abandoned until 2001 when Jon Acevski, a British film producer, came along. “It’s a place for … royalty, wealthy Russians, big pop stars, film stars, the studios, corporations,” he told Variety in 2009, after paying some $1.7 million for the site, telling local media that he had spent far more on renovation work.
He added that he had initially charged more than $190,000 a week to rent the whole site, including the 7.5 acres of grounds, but had cut the price to $120,000 because of the economic downturn that followed the subprime crisis.
Today, the château offers exquisite luxury. There are 13 suites, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a sauna, a hammam and a helicopter landing pad. Now, however, it has been invaded by bulldozers ordered by the French authorities to demolish an outbuilding allegedly put up without planning permission.
Officials in the Alpes-Maritimes department said the demolition job would cost more than $150,000 and that they would send the bill to Acevski.
The move is the latest chapter in a long-running conflict over the manor, which can be hired for wedding receptions or corporate events. A host of stars have also stayed there, notably Naomi Campbell and Madonna, who made it her temporary home during a European concert tour in 2008.
“It’s a place for … royalty, wealthy Russians, big pop stars, film stars, the studios, corporations.”
Yet the château, which served for centuries as a fortress guarding against an invasion from what is now Italy, was a ruin when Acevski and Yasmin, his wife, moved in. His renovations have never been to the liking of local officials. They argued that he had no right to extend the caretaker’s lodge or to build next to the swimming pool.
In 2009, a court in nearby Grasse imposed more than $7 million in fines upon the château and ordered the destruction of the outbuildings. Acevski contested the decision in higher courts in a succession of appeals. But in 2017 the caretaker’s lodge was knocked down and now the bulldozers are back.
Mathieu Eyrard, deputy director of Territories and the Sea in the Alpes-Maritimes, said they were demolishing a “long gallery of more than 200 square meters [2,153 square feet] underneath a swimming pool [which was] a site used by [château] workers”.
Officials are making an example of the château in what appears to be an attempt to discourage the wealthy homeowners of the French Riviera from undertaking work without planning permission. “At the end of the day, the state always asserts its rights,” said Eyrard. “When there are illegal procedures … the state ensures that the law is respected.”
Acevski’s wife said the couple did not wish to comment.
Acevski, whose films include Freddie as F.R.O.7, a cartoon about a frog that parodies James Bond, put the property up for sale for $53 million. It is reported to have been taken off the market without a buyer having been found.
Adam Sage is the Paris correspondent for The Times of London. He has covered five presidential elections and countless scandals