Maisons Dominos Marseille

A Stately Neoclassical on Marseille’s Corniche with Mediterranean Views for Miles

One in the Maisons Dominos collection of French vacation escapes by Audrey and Antoine Colombani, this four-bedroom, four-bathroom beauty, overlooking the Mediterranean on Marseille’s sought-after Corniche, offers refinement with a touch of vintage class. Decorated in collaboration with Margaux Fritz, the home exudes Mediterranean tradition, with red travertine and terracotta, vaulted volumes and classic villa lines.

Inside, there's a modern professional kitchen, art-deco inspired living and dining area, four bedrooms, plus a hammam and gym. Each of the four bedrooms comes with a queen-sized bed and en-suite bathroom, three with showers. The primary bedroom features a designer soaking tub and double walk-in shower.

Outdoors, under the Côte d’Azur blue skies, loungers surround a small heated swimming pool, and a glamorous, colonnaded roof deck offers views out to sea, taking in Marseille’s chalky white islands and dots of sailboats making their way in and out of the city’s harbors.

Around

This seaview villa is five minutes on foot from the beach Plage du Prophète and a 15-minute drive from the heart of Marseille’s Vieux-Port. The beach, below the road on the Corniche Kennedy, is one of the city’s oldest and most popular. Prettier sands and gloriously blue water can be found at Malmousque, a 10-minute drive or a bit further at Les Goudes, about 15 minutes away. A village within Marseille city limits, in its seventh district, Malmousque features a maze of colorful alleys and a small fishing port. The coast here is cut through with small bays, and the area oozes vintage Marseille charms. Sunbathing and swimming here involves lounging on the rocky outcroppings or small pebbly beaches, and the famed Petit Nice and La Fausse Monnaie coves are favorites. Les Goudes also offers little fishing village vibes, despite its relative proximity to Marseilles' bustling heart. The white rock of the region rises above the small fishing harbor, the water is great for kayaking, splashing, boating, sailing and walking / cycling to the lesser-traveled calanques outside of town.

Marseille, France’s second largest city, has drawn sailors and fishermen, pirates and vagabonds and been a center for global trade and immigration for centuries. The port city is a buzzing metropolis with a glittering Mediterranean port at its heart and neighborhoods climbing its chalky hills, shaped by African and Italian, Grecian and other Mediterranean cultures. Creative art, music, film and food scenes draw tourists and artistic residents. Neighborhoods like the Vieux Port and Le Panier offer hundreds of photo-worthy bars, cafes, restaurants and shops, and the busy, loud Nouilles neighborhood, with its open air markets, kebab stands and global eateries has a great, youthful, international feel and glorious food offerings.

Up some steep roads from the center of town, around the Cours Julien, cafes and outdoor bars, artisan breweries and cocktail halls come alive each afternoon and into the night. The leafy swath, surrounded by colorful residences, is cooled by street fountains and made even cooler by its bright infusion of street art. Finally, the smaller harbor in the area of Endoume a few kilometers south of the Vieux Port, offers a smaller, charmingly picturesque neighborhood, sandwiched between the cliffs of one of the city’s many rocky inlets or bays. The small fishing port is known as the Vallon des Auffes, and it's lined with traditional fishermen’s cabanas and the classic seafood table, Chez Fonfon, a restaurant that's been ladling the city’s famed fish stew, bouillabaisse, spiked with saffron to waterfront diners since 1952.

Location

Marseille, France. Nearest airport: Marseille (30 minutes)

Best time to visit

Year round

Photography: Lena Charignon