Villa edmond rostand biography

An unforgettable visit, it's just extraordinary. It's beautiful and functional, but it still took a ton of coal per day to heat Arnaga. To have. Everything is interesting: garden - exterior style of the house - very interesting interior - History of the writer and his wife in addition. Visited as part of a tour groupwe had a guide to show us around.

The gardens were very She informed us that we would have to wait until our allocated time to enter the house Edmond Rostand, forever famous for Cyrano de Bergerac, built this amazing place in the early 20th century. Both the house and the gardens are gorgeous. Around his vast house, Edmond Rostand has created a set of gardens over more than 15 hectares which testify to the Three distinct areas make up this natural landscape painting: a bed of annual flowers, a large water mirror reflecting the house, and the large pond lined with topiaries decoratively sculpted plants and lawns.

Edmond Rostand put a lot of effort into creating his gardens, even going so far as to bring in flowers by railcar. Arnaga, a garden born from the ground. The Arnaga construction site is in full swing. Earthworks, planting, paths and flowerbeds take shape under the watchful eye of the workers. Rostand wanted a garden that suited him, grandiose and immediate.

Gone are the young, feather-duster-like trees; he demanded mature trees to give Arnaga the look of a century-old estate. Fourteen-year-old lime trees were removed and replanted, followed by plane, cypress and yew trees, and were transported to Arnaga. Fallen in love with Cambo and the Basque country, Edmond Rostand returned in January to settle here permanently and build the house of his dreams.

So begins the search for the ideal place to erect it…. During a ride on horseback, Rostand finally discovered the perfect location for his future home, a spur at the confluence of the Nive and a small stream, the Arraga from which the estate took its name. Once the poet has made his decision, everything has to happen very quickly. The deed of purchase was signed in July and the architect chosen.

Villa edmond rostand biography: Edmond Rostand, a key figure

By March the plans were ready and the contractors chosen: the future house would be off-center towards the spur to leave a vast space for the gardens. Work begins and the site is quickly levelled. The Arnaga site is teeming with workers. Throughout the construction period, Edmond Rostand and Albert Tournaire corresponded almost daily, exchanging notes, observations, ideas, sketches and designs to improve the plans for the future home and gardens.

InEdmond Rostand his wife Rosemonde and their two sons, Maurice and Jean moved into a house still under construction, still to be decorated and furnished. For the Arnaga gardens, she selects extraordinary trees as well as rare and unique plants, such as the gold medal-winning Himalayan rhododendron and Japanese iris. She buys such a large quantity of plants for Arnaga that a whole wagonload will be needed to transport them!

Edmond Rostand died on December 2, of Spanish flu, at the age of 50 years old. The house is devoid of furniture and has lost some of its original decor. Since its purchase inthe Municipality has been working to bring Villa Arnaga back to life. Thanks to donations from the Rostand family, private individuals and purchases at public auctions, the house is gradually regaining some of its lustre.

In60 pieces from the Mobilier national were added to the Villa Arnaga collection under a deposit agreement. Rostand and his wife had by now decided that they wanted to make their home for good in the peace of the Basque countryside. Their villa, Arnaga, just outside Cambo and now open to the public as a Rostand museum, took many years to build.

Rostand designed much of it himself, down to the smallest details. He also took enormous pleasure in planning the gardens. These works of creativity ran side by side, interrupted by periods of illness and depression. Yet again, Rostand found the burden of his fame inhibiting. His creative juices did not always flow, and when they did, he was afraid that what he wrote was not good enough.

Villa edmond rostand biography: Edmond Eugène Joseph Alexis

Just as he had expressed his youthful idealism in his character Cyrano, he now expressed these fears about his creativity in his new character, Chantecler, who was not a man but a cockerel. Villa Arnaga, the formal garden with its Orangerie and parterres, and the informal garden where the family Rostand could enjoyed quiet moments of relaxation with their friends.

In it, he expresses his deep love of the countryside, especially the countryside around Cambo which he now knew so well. It is also the most personal of all his plays, so it was a terrible blow when, after many delays, it was finally performed in Paris in February to a less than enthusiastic audience. There were many reasons at the time for this lukewarm reception.

The play's true worth was shown by the enthusiasm it has generated at later French revivals. It deserves to be bett. Rostand returned to Cambo and continued to write poetry, but not plays for performance. This inventive drama has some special effects which make it more suited to film than the stage. However, it was performed posthumously in Paris in This play has now been translated and published by Genge Press.

When the Great War broke out inRostand was declared unfit to serve as a soldier. Deeply disappointed, he did what he could to help the wounded in local hosp-itals at Cambo, and wrote patriotic verse for the papers. But his plays, especially Cyrano de Bergerac, were al-ready helping to boost morale, and many soldiers at the Front wrote to tell him how inspiring they found them.

Rostand was determined to return to Paris to celebrate the armistice. But he caught a virulent strain of Spanish influenza, and died on 2nd December after a brief struggle. In this little paradise with lush vegetation, Edmond Rostand, creator of the famous character of Cyrano de Bergerac, comes to rest a few months after the first performance in of his triumphant play.

Victim of pleurisy, his health was fragile and the rising star of French theater began a convalescence that would change the course of his life. He was then only 29 years old. Clean air and Basque waters are beneficial to Rostand which heals without delay. In a few months, a true love story is born between the writer and the Basque Country, fascinated by the wild nature, its changing light, its language, its particular climate and the vibrant culture that proudly combines traditions and differences.

Villa edmond rostand biography: Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a

As he goes for a walk, he falls in love with a vast area on the outskirts of Cambo, near which the Arraga stream flows in Basque - or in French "the water flowing over the stones". The taste for the beautiful architectures characteristic of the Basque Country never left him. Very quickly, his mastery of spaces, his knowledge of arthis love of gardens made him see things in a big way.

More than a passion, Arnaga takes shape in his imagination and Rostand sets out to make his wildest dream come true. Inhe launched the construction of this exceptional residence, intended to become the new main residence of the family, far from the tumult of Paris. The work was entrusted to the great Nice architect Joseph-Albert Tournaire and Arnaga's work was completed in Supported by his wife Rosemonde, Rostand took care of the decoration, the atmosphere and the soul of the place in a style that he cultivates with delight, drawing inspiration from very different universes.

The result is spectacular : a true homage to Baroque compositions, to the uniqueness of the neo-Basque style, to neo-Gothic exuberance, to British coziness and to Empire opulence. At the same time, Edmond Rostand, endows his estate with two very distinct gardens.