Bernard Roux – Cap d’Antibes resident

Meet Bernard – Long time Cap d’Antibes resident.

Bernard Roux has been living and working in Cap d’Antibes for over 30 years. I met him at his home to ask him about his life here. He has been selling Villas here since 1983.

What brought you to Cap d’Antibes?

“I was born in Marseille but rew up in the Var. The Var was a very nice place to live, it’s not so built up and there is the beautiful countryside which is great when you are young”.

“We left the Var for Antibes in the 70’s because my mother wanted to change her life and to live here. I came here with my son and instantly  fell in love with Cap d’Antibes. In 1983 I bought an Estate agency and made my business here in Cap d’Antibes. At that time I was only the second agency on the Cap. Now there are many agencies here, possibly too many”.

“Over the years I have seen all types of people here, Italians, Germans, Russians. In 1983 we worked mainly with German people and French people but after that the French people started to dissappear. They were replaced by Italians, Lebanese and Russians”.

“There are now all nationalities living here peacefully together, people from all over the world. When I first came here there were  a lot of villas and at that time it was impossible to build on the Cap. That has changed slightly in recent years. Now it is possible to build but it is still relatively limited. That is the good thing about the Cap it is protected to some extent from over development”.

Were property prices always high here?

“Property on the Cap was ofcourse always expensive but not like now. Before it was still affordable but then it went sky high. Recently prices have gone down a little. Villas to buy are relatively limited in Cap d’Antibes, every 7 years or so villas come onto the market. Either people die, or they get divorced and sell their homes. Strangely this seems to occur in 7 year cycles”.

Did you know you wanted to sell houses?

“Actually I chose to become an  immobiler just by chance. One day I was speaking with a woman and she said Bernard why don’t you become an immobillier. I was young at the time and  I thought, ok, why not. So that’s what I did”.

“I had just finished my studies so I was looking for something to do”.

“When I opened my agency I was still living in Antibes.  A few years after buying the office I moved to the Cap. I bought a small villa which I renovated, in fact I did this a few times. It gives me a lot of pleasure renovating properties but the best thing is to build something new. That’s my favourite thing to do”.

“I have renovated 3 or 4 houses on the Cap but this house, where we are now, is the first house which I have built from scratch”.

When did you build this house?

“I started building this house 10 years ago. There was nothing here before except rocks and dirt. This is now my permanent home and it is my dream to be living here”.

“To build this house we had to use dynamite to clear the area as there was just solid rock here when I bought the land. We had someone on the street in front with a little trumpet to alert everyone and then Boom”!

“The owner of the Restaurant Bacon right behind us, who I know very well, came running over shouting  “Bernard what are you doing?? All the wine bottles in our cellar are shaking!!”.

I said “I am building my house, I am blowing up the Cap”. He laughs.

“The house was designed by an architect. It was he who designed the curved front and windows. On the first plans the front of the house had an hexaganol design which I didn’t like. Ofcourse the curves were difficult to do and ofcourse it made the house more expensive but I think it looks much better.  The interior I designed and furnished myself. It’s something I love to do”.

Why is the house red?

“It wasn’t my idea, it was the Batiment de France who told us it had to be red. I don’t know why but that’s just what they told us we had to do. It was the Law, I couldn’t do it differently”.

“I didn’t like it at first because  it was really really red but now, over time, the colour has faded in the sun and I quite like it. It’s more of a coral colour now and it looks nice with the greens of the plants and the blue of the sea”.

“Actually it is my dream to be living here”.

What do you love about the Cap?

“I love the peace and quiet of living here and the View and also the nature. The Cap is full of nature and I also love the people here, they are cool. It’s nice seeing people from all over the world living, working and visiting here”.

“In my free time I used to love playing tennis. I used to play on the Municipal courts here near the Hotel du Cap. They were supposed to remain as  municipal tennis courts but unfortunately the owner decided to sell and the Mairie gave him permission to do so. The land was in fact part of the old Hotel Provencale. There is now a big new villa where the courts used to be.   It’s a shame as it was an amazing place to play, with a view of the sea behind you it was one of the most beautiful places to play tennis. After they closed the municipal courts I played at a friends house near Eilenroc but now I am 68 so I have stopped tennis all together. I play golf now”.

“I also love to go fishing that’s another lovely thing to do here”.

What do you know about the Provencal?

“The Povencal has been closed since 1968. The owner at the time was waiting for  permission to renovate it but he never got the permission so he left it closed. He waited and waited and waited. Finally  he got the permission to do what he wanted to do but a group lodged an opposition with the Mairie so again all plans and work stopped. I do believe that it will be developed soon. I am sure a solution will be found as it’s such an enormous building and a white elephant on the Landscape. The plan is for them to make a hotel and also apartments”.

Is there anything you dislike about Cap d’Antibes?

“No not really. We were asking for a security programme for the cap as there  is a lot of crime here. I proposed to have a camera at the beginning of the Cap like in st Jean Cap Ferrat. Cap ferrat is very secure now. I suggested a few camera’s and also maybe regular patrols by police on scooters but apparently the Mairie deemed it to be ‘dissuasive’ so they rejected the idea. It’s a pity as I think it would have made the Cap a safer place”.

“Maybe they rejected the idea on privacy grounds but for me security is an equally important issue”.

Do you think you will live here forever?

“I am not sure if I will live here forever. The Cap is really a fantastic place to live, it’s one of the most wonderful places in the world to live in my opinion but who knows if I will be here forever”.

Your favourite place here?

“My favourite place on the Cap is the Chateau de la Croe,  Roman Abramovichs house, but it is too big for me” He laughs.

“The house was originally owned by  Aristotle Onassis but he sold it after his wife found him in bed with her friend. The house was then bought by the brother-in-law of Onassis”.

“I read somewhere that before Abramovich bought the house it had been completely occupied by squatters who left it in a very bad state. Imagine being a squatter in the Chateau de la croe, it’s unbelievable”.

“Abramovich has done an amazing job of restoring it. He spent over 30 million Euros on the work and it is incredible what he has done”.

“I love all the houses in the Bay des milliardaires”.

“Recently I sold my Estate Agency. Now when I see a house I see the beauty of the house but I no longer see the value”.

“I no longer ask myself, Is it for sale or not. I don’t care about that anymore. Now that I have retired my plan is to go fishing, hunting and golfing.  I love my son and my grandson very much  so I plan to spend more time with them. My son still works at the agency, the new owner bought the business but he has kept all the staff. I retired literally a couple of weeks ago and I am now very very happy and looking forward to my new life”.

“In the future I will carry on doing small renovations. I am currently working on a small house in the old town of Antibes which I am making into 4 beautiful modern studios. I think I will continue to do things like this”.

“Of course I did enjoy my job. It was great to be an estate agent, especially on the Cap, but now is the time to move onto something else and I am lucky that I am able to do that”.

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