In Greek mythology, Kérylos designates Alcyon, a mythical bird nesting in the heart of winter, born from the transformation of Alcyoné (Ἀλκυόνη), wife of Céyx. This sea swallow was said to bring a happy omen

More than an architecture, Villa Kérylos is a total work born from the fruitful and erudite desire of Théodore Reinach, supported by a talented architect, Emmanuel Pontremoli. The two men met at the Salon of 1900, while Pontremoli presented the fruit of his research in Pergamon. Together, they built this fabulous monument between 1902 and 1908 in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, surrounded by the best craftsmen and artists.

From floor to ceiling, everything in the villa has been designed, designed and produced in 6 years: every piece of furniture or textile, every door or window handle, switches and electrical sockets but also crockery and cutlery, nothing is an exception!

Villa Kérylos is like a research conservatory of the time, an incarnated sum of knowledge. If it is all this and more, it is neither a copy nor a reconstruction. It is a creation inspired by Greece and more broadly by the ancient Mediterranean worlds. Not a replica, but a reinvention of Antiquity at the dawn of the 20th century, an immersion outside of time and outside of places. An evocation of Antiquity, Villa Kérylos is nevertheless a perfectly contemporary monument in which all the comforts of the technology of the time are present, but carefully concealed! Everything is thought out as if an architect from ancient Greece had designed a luxurious villa at the beginning of the 20th century: electrical sockets and switches are hidden but still accessible. No radiators, but an ingenious heating system inspired by Antiquity (ducts diffusing hot air) powered by oil boilers and no longer wood…