LA VILLA JULIA

About

Villa Julia, built in 1880

The villa was built in the 1870s: on the map of Luchon drawn up by Castex in 1873, the plot is already marked ‘Villa Rostand’, but its footprint is not hatched, suggesting that it was probably still under construction at the time. It is indeed recorded in the land registry as a new building in 1874.

The villa was built for Eugène Rostand and his wife, who named it ‘Julia’, a diminutive of their eldest daughter’s first name, Juliette. The villa is also sometimes referred to as “Chalet Rostand”, in reference to the building’s abundant wooden décor. Edmond Rostand spent the summers of his youth there, during which time he became friends with Henry de Gorsse.

The villa’s large balcony is said to have inspired the setting for the balcony scene in his play *Cyrano de Bergerac*. In 1991, the Compagnons Charpentiers du Devoir carried out repairs to the villa’s roof, for which they were awarded the Clément V medal by the Académie Julien-Sacaze in 1993.