Anybody wanting to follow in the footsteps of Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson can now stay in the famous royal couple’s former country residence, Le Moulin de la Tuilerie.
The property, in Gif-sur-Yvette, 35km southwest of Paris, is one of three buildings belonging to Landmark France, the newly established French arm of British building preservation charity the Landmark Trust.
Le Moulin de la Tuilerie will open for holidays later this year. The site is now privately owned and in need of a new future. Formerly an 18th-century tile-making mill, the Windsors made the main building their country house and created additional accommodation for their guests in the outbuildings.
Edward VIII abdicated from the British throne in 1936 to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. After the war they settled in Paris and bought Le Moulin de la Tuilerie as their weekend retreat. It was the only house they ever owned. Here, they entertained many of the glitterati of international café society, such as Cecil Beaton, Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton, Henry Ford and Marlene Dietrich.
Landmark will let Le Moulin (for twelve), La Maison des Amis (for four) and Le Célibataire (for two) for holidays from summer 2010.
Landmark France was set up after the Landmark Trust signed a cross-cultural partnership agreement with the French government coastal conservation agency, le Conservatoire du littoral, to pursue together the restoration of historic buildings owned by the Conservatoire round the French coast.
Landmark France and the Conservatoire already have active restoration projects in Brittany and Charente-Maritime. However, the first French Landmarks come from a different source and the income they generate will help fund Landmark France’s ongoing activities in France.
Peter Pearce, Director of the Landmark Trust, said: ‘Our partnership with the Conservatoire du littoral provides us with a rare and exciting opportunity to restore historic buildings on the coasts of France for a new and public use in partnership with a French organisation whose culture and achievements we deeply admire and whose values echo our own.
‘These first Landmarks on French soil, while not themselves buildings of the Conservatoire’s, nevertheless come to us thanks to a timely agreement with their English owner and will allow us to generate the income needed to support the launch of Landmark France and the development of our other French projects with the Conservatoire.’
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