Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Jacques-Marcel Auburtin

Aaron Messiah

1905

Image

Photograph of house surrounded by gardens and fountain and flanked by two tall palm trees, with mountains in background. — The neoclassical Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, designed for the Baroness Charlotte Béatrice de Rothschild, remains Aaron Messiah’s most famous work. Located in Cap Ferrat in southern France, the building, surrounded by gardens, has a loggia with a view of the sea on all sides, meant to resemble the bridge of a ship, a design reportedly inspired by the baroness’s fond memories of an ocean voyage.

Credits

Photo by Berthold Werner, June 10, 2011. Licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

The Ascent of Man

Struck out of dim fluctuant forces and shock of electrical vapour, Repelled and attracted the atoms flashed mingling in union primeval, And over the face of the waters far heaving…

View Source

Photograph of rectangular room with arched windows, floor covered in sand, wooden cabinet on far wall, wooden benches on left side and along walls, and wooden lectern on right side.

Tzedek ve-Shalom Synagogue, Suriname

Built in 1736, the Tzedek ve-Shalom synagogue served a Sephardic congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who had migrated from Holland to Suriname. Located in Suriname’s capital of Paramaribo, the…

View Source

Sanatorium

Gate, open doorsill, creep near. Room, I’m here; back to the cell. Fire in my flesh. snow on my skull. My shoulder heaves a sack of grief. Good-bye. Good-bye. Hand. Eye. Burning lip charred by…

View Source

Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Jacques-Marcel Auburtin

1872–1926

Born in Paris to the architect Alexandre Émile Auburtin, Jacques-Marcel Auburtin graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in 1896. He worked on a number of municipal buildings in Paris, including La nouvelle Sorbonne (with Henri-Paul Nénot, 1896–1899), Colisee Gaumont (1912), and the Salle Pleyel (with André Granet and Jean-Baptiste Mathon, 1927). Auburtin was a founding member of the Société française des urbanistes and theorized how to rebuild France after World War I in a novel 1915 treatise that proposed indoor plumbing and sewage, electricity, and other innovations. His brother, Jean-Francis Auburtin (1866–1930), was a landscape painter.

Creator Bio

Aaron Messiah

1858–1940

Born in Nice to a family in the textile business, Aaron Messiah began an architectural apprenticeship at the age of fourteen after his family suffered financial losses. In his twenties, he designed buildings for Protestant churches in Nice, going on to work for several powerful clients, including, notably, King Leopold II of Belgium. The neoclassical Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, designed for the Baroness Charlotte Béatrice de Rothschild, remains Messiah’s most famous work. Located in Cap Ferrat in southern France, the building, surrounded by gardens, has a loggia with a view of the sea on all sides, meant to resemble the bridge of a ship, a design reportedly inspired by the baroness’s fond memories of an ocean voyage.