10 BEDROOM VILLA BUILT BY BILL WYMAN OF THE ROLLING STONES

More information about the history of this beautifully appointed house from the man who had it built Mr Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones.

Introduced to the sunny south of France by Mick Jagger, Wyman originally rented a place in the Seventies in L’Oustaraun, not far from the beautiful hilltop town of Vence. He fell in love with this quiet out-of-the-way setting within easy reach of star-studded Cannes and Bohemiam Artists private hideaway Saint-Paul-de-Vence and started hunting for land.

His maid, who also cleaned for French President Giscard d’Estaing, said she owned some left to her by the old Marquise. He snapped up this sloping hillside plot in 1974 and built his own Provencal style house. He even helped design it, making the modern house appear at least a century older by installing old tiles, beams and doors with much inspiration from the famous La Colombe d'Or in neighbouring Saint-Paul-de-Vence

He named it La Cabra D’Or, the Provencal phrase for ‘the golden goat.’ The house was named after a 300 to 400-year-old painting of a golden goat discovered on the borders of his land ‘The legend is that the golden goat represents treasure, so there could well be some here. But I wouldn’t dig for it, as the magic is the mystery of not knowing. It would ruin it if I tried to find it.’

That being said it has been affectionately called Vence Rock due to its legendary roll call of guests over the 30 years Wyman owned it.

Security is extremely important to anyone in the south of France. La Cabra D’Or’s one-way approach up a winding road will put off even the most determined burglar. ‘You would ring the police, who would catch him on the way down,’ says Wyman. Electric gate

‘It is an idyllic spot,’ says Wyman. ‘At 600 metres, you don’t get the humidity that hits you further down on the coast, there are no mosquitoes and very few tourists.

‘The 180-degree views are amazing. You can see from Nice right round to Cap d’Antibes – and even as far as Corsica on a clear day.’

‘It is quite sociable here, with a whole mass of English and Americans,’ says Wyman. He adds that celebrities feel comfortable in France. The owners of the local toyshop took about four years to work out who he was. ‘If we were in somewhere like Spain, it would be impossible from the moment we got there.’

Stars who have come to relax by the poolside and have given the place the thumbs up include Mick Jagger and former wife Jerry Hall, Monty Python comic Eric Idle and Beatle Ringo Starr, who loved the pretty tiled house with its Italian fountain so much, he remained in residence for three months

Before leaving Wyman transformed the once small ground floor kitchen into an open plan kitchen/breakfast room and twin double alcove bedroom area and his old music studio into a separate guest quarters annexe.

More recently Gilbert Tremeilat who worked alongside the now very famous Chagall who was a good friend of Wyman (see book Wyman on Chagall) did a private commission on many of the bathrooms the Master bathroom being in the photos.