Villa E-1027: an icon of modern architecture

Having embraced a pared-down decorative vocabulary, Eileen Gray designed a light-filled house with fluid, ambivalent spaces on the natural site of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. She also conceived elegant, functional, custom-made furniture inseparable from the building itself and from the living spaces, each of which opens onto nature through large bay windows.

The name E-1027 is derived from a code combining the initials of its two creators: E for Eileen, 10 for the letter J in Jean, 2 for the B in Badovici, and 7 for the G in Gray.

Built on terraced land where cypress and palm trees dominate the horizon, this immaculate cocoon emerging from the vegetation is accessible only from the path that runs alongside the railway line, just a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean Sea shimmering below.

Raised on stilts, this bastion of modern, L-shaped architecture unfolds over two levels with a total surface area of 120 m². The living spaces balance autonomy and intimacy in a boldly avant-garde composition.

Interior fittings and pioneering furniture

An expert in furniture and interior design, Eileen Gray expressed her artistic sensibility within the villa through ingenious, modular, and versatile creations. She experimented with industrial materials such as glass, metal, tubular steel, and celluloid to design lighting, tables, and chairs.

Perfectly integrated into the architecture, the furniture is finished in Bakelite or painted plywood, reinforcing the unity between structure and function. This bold design approach continues to inspire contemporary artists, designers, and architects.

Cap Moderne: the legacy of Le Corbusier

The relationship between Le Corbusier and Eileen Gray oscillated between admiration, rivalry, and jealousy. Gray’s masterpiece became an obsession for Le Corbusier, who, after her departure, painted murals inside the villa without her consent.

Drawn by the exceptional light of the French Riviera and his taste for simple living, he had his Cabanon built in 1952. The plot of land was obtained in exchange for constructing camping units on the terraced slope overlooking the villa.

Today, the Étoile de Mer, the Cabanon, the camping units, and Villa E-1027—powerful testimonies to the popular Mediterranean lifestyle of the 1950s—have been brought together under the Cap Moderne association. Since 2014, its mission has been to preserve these gems of the Côte d’Azur’s modern architectural heritage.

Cap Moderne official website

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