Villa Don Cupi, Le Pyla, France

Between the wars, the Basque coast, from Biarritz to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, became a popular resort; it was to become known as the Côte d’Argent. It was at this time that Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988) commissioned Charles Siclis, (who he had used to build the Pigalle theatre and the wine cellars at Mouton), to build the villa Don Cupi in the pinewoods above Arcachon looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. Siclis worked in the traditional agricultural Basque style, with wooden balcony, pantiles and asymetric roof.