Updated on September 29, 2025
Classified as a Historical Monument in 1991, the residence restored by Michael and Margaret Likierman in Menton is a haven of peace for art lovers and poets inspired by gardens..
Summary:
1. A haven of art and nature in the hills above Menton
A haven of art and nature in the hills above Menton
Who could ever guess that such a gem of art, design and botany exists in the hills above Menton? The Domaine des Colombières, a little-known Art Deco villa with 3.5 hectares of gardens, has been completely restored thanks to the commitment of the Likiermans.
“We first lived in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, but my late wife Margaret, a passionate horticulturist, saw that the mistral wasn’t good for her garden. She fell in love with Les Colombières. It was a house on a human scale with extraordinary vegetation thanks to the mild climate of Menton”, says Michael Likierman, former CEO of Habitat France. It then took 5 years, from 1995 to 2000, to restore the property to its full splendour.
A blue line like the horizon, the Mediterranean
In the Super Garavan district, beautiful residences flourish on the hillside, facing a 360° view of the Mediterranean. It is within this magnificent panorama that the Domaine des Colombières, a total work of art by Ferdinand Bac - illegitimate grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte and an aesthete of incredible elegance - flourishes.
The villa’s Spanish-style patio, with its reflecting pool and paintings on zinc, confirms the talent of the artist, who was passionate about Greco-Roman antiquity. Here, in a series of painted panels, he revisits The Odyssey, not to celebrate Ulysses but to honour his rejected lovers: Circe, Calypso, and Penelope.
From forgotten building to exceptional estate
Ferdinand Bac found this old farm building on behalf of his friends Émile and Caroline Ladan-Bockairy. He added a floor to it and designed every last detail, from the refined furniture to the stained-glass windows exalting blues and greens.
“The architecture of the estate was very modern for the time, while drawing from the past”, continues Michael Likierman.
In this journey around the Mediterranean, Bac celebrates timeless species like the cypress, between a Roman bench and an Egyptian obelisk. Where olive oil was once stored, he created small spaces where it is pleasant to sit and recite poetry. Point d’orgue de la visite : le chemin d’Eurydice au sommet. The highlight of the visit: Eurydice’s path at the top. The man and the woman, life and death... a luminous maxim emerges from this botanical journey: “It is very true that things are reborn, and that nothing disappears”.
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