Les Jolies Eaux

Les Jolies Eaux is a villa situated at the southern tip of Mustique Island.{{Cite book|last=Joseph, Claudia.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/692291705|title=Kate : the making of a princess|publisher=William Morrow|year=2011|isbn=978-0-06-208229-9|location=New York|pages=60|oclc=692291705}} The villa's name is a French term which translates to ‘beautiful waters’.{{Cite news|last=Teeman|first=Tim|date=December 2019|title=Princess Margaret's Love Affair With The Island Of Mustique}} This name was coined by locals as a result of the prime geological location of the property which overlooks the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic.{{Cite web|title=Les Jolies Eaux {{!}} Architectural Digest {{!}} OCTOBER 2003|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|access-date=20 November 2020|website=Architectural Digest {{!}} The Complete Archive|language=en-US}} Mustique is located 18 miles south of St Vincent and sits in the northerly region of the Grenadines, placing the villa in the Caribbean province. The Les Jolies Eaux villa takes up a small proportion of Mustique, measuring up to approximately 10 acres of land.{{Cite journal|last=Gerald|first=Clarke|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=229}}

The estate was given to the princess in 1959 by Colin Tennant, a British aristocrat and socialite, who had purchased the land in 1959 for around $120,000.{{Cite book|last=Joseph, Claudia.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/692291705|title=Kate : the making of a princess|publisher=William Morrow|year=2011|isbn=978-0-06-208229-9|location=New York|pages=160|oclc=692291705}} The land was a wedding gift, to commemorate her marriage to Lord Snowdon.{{Cite book|last=Joseph, Claudia.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/692291705|title=Kate : the making of a princess|publisher=William Morrow|year=2011|isbn=978-0-06-208229-9|location=New York|pages=161|oclc=692291705}} Tennant reportedly asked Princess Margaret whether she would prefer a ‘wrapped gift’ or land on Mustique. He showed Princess Margaret a map of Mustique and pointed out the available piece of headland. Margaret had visited the spot when picnicking at Les Jolies Eaux with Lord Snowdon during their honeymoon in May 1960.{{Cite book|last=Aronson, Theo.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/944958496|title=Princess Margaret : a biography|date=2013|publisher=Thistle Publishing|isbn=978-1-909609-20-4|location=London|pages=340|oclc=944958496}}

{{Infobox building

| alternate_names = 'Beautiful Waters'

| image =

| image_alt =

| caption =

| address =

| location_town = Mustique

| location_country = Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

| coordinates =

| start_date = {{start date|1959}}

| completion_date = {{end date|1972}}

| inauguration_date =

| demolition_date =

| destruction_date =

| architect = Oliver Messel

| landlord = Lord Glenconner

| owner = Princess Margaret

| cost =

| floor_area = {{convert|40468.6|sqm|abbr=on}}

| floor_count =

| awards =

| website = {{url|https://www.mustique-island.com/villa/les-jolies-eaux/}}

| map_type =

| altitude =

| building_type = Villa

| architectural_style = Baroque, Neo-classical, Theatrical

| structural_system =

| current_tenants =

| height =

| architecture_firm = The Mustique Company

| structural_engineer =

| services_engineer =

| civil_engineer =

| main_contractor =

}}

Tennant gave the land in a relatively undeveloped state,{{Cite book|last=Aronson, Theo.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/944958496|title=Princess Margaret: a biography|date=2013|publisher=Thistle Publishing|isbn=978-1-909609-20-4|location=London|oclc=944958496}} although he undertook to clear out ‘the wall of undergrowth which blocked any sight of the sea’.{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=230}} The Les Jolies Eaux headland was formerly a sugar plantation, dating back to the 19th century. It had been neglected over time, resulting in excessive amounts of overgrowth and soil erosion.{{Cite book|last=Geerligs|first=H. C. Prinsen|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511751073|title=The World's Cane Sugar Industry|date=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-511-75107-3|location=Cambridge|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511751073}} Princess Margaret stated, ‘this is my house’ and this island is ‘the only square inch in the world I own’.{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=229}} It was this transition of ownership from Lord Glenconner to Princess Margaret which altered the architectural, aesthetic and historical landscape of the Les Jolies Eaux villa.{{Cite news|last=Glenconner|first=Anne|date=6 November 2020|title=Lady Anne Glenconner: My life on Mustique in 12 photographs|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2020/11/06/lady-anne-glenconner-life-mustique-12-photographs/|access-date=20 November 2020|issn=0307-1235}}

The development of the estate was undertaken by the princess.{{Cite news|last=Teeman|first=Tim|date=December 2019|title=Princess Margaret's Love Affair With The Island Of Mustique|page=5|work=Town & Country}} Eight years after receiving the gift, she began construction.{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=232}} Tennant, who acted as her lead architect, suggested Oliver Messel – uncle of Lord Snowdon and a leading set designer in Britain – to design the villa.{{Cite book|last=Joseph, Claudia.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/692291705|title=Kate : the making of a princess|publisher=William Morrow|year=2011|isbn=978-0-06-208229-9|location=New York|pages=72|oclc=692291705}}

Messel was a permanent resident of the Caribbean – due to health issues prohibiting him from travelling – allowing him to oversee the project,{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=260}} and had already designed a number of other cottages and villas in Barbados.{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=249}}{{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t057352|title=Messel, Oliver|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|series=Oxford Art Online|doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t057352}} Princess Margaret wanted the villa to complement and blend into the "magnificent views".{{Cite book|last=Aronson, Theo.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/944958496|title=Princess Margaret : a biography|date=2013|publisher=Thistle Publishing|isbn=978-1-909609-20-4|location=London|pages=339|oclc=944958496}} Messel designed a villa with a close attention to detail,{{Cite book|last=Dempster|first=Nigel|title=H.R.H. The Princess Margaret|publisher=Qaurtet Books|year=1983|location=London|pages=70}} synthesising traditional Caribbean architecture with 18th-century European influences.{{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003060215|title=Who'S Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History|date=7 October 2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-10075-4|editor-last=Aldrich|editor-first=Robert|pages=336|doi=10.4324/9781003060215|editor-last2=Wotherspoon|editor-first2=Garry}}

Les Jolies Eaux is a single-story stone villa with accommodation for ten guests.{{Cite journal|last=Bishop|first=Matthew Louis|date=2010|title=Tourism as a Small-State Development Strategy|url=http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.library.usyd.edu.au/10.1177/146499340901000201|journal=Progress in Development Studies|volume=10|issue=2|pages=99–114|doi=10.1177/146499340901000201|s2cid=154952603|issn=1464-9934}} Messel incorporated English Baroque elements including the convex courtyard.{{Cite journal|last=Drab|first=Theodore|date=2000|title=OLIVER MESSEL: CREATING THE MYSTIQUE OF MUSTIQUE|url=https://www.idec.org/files/2000ConferenceProceedings.pdf#page=44|journal=The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture|pages=4}} The villa was designed around the pre-existing flora and Messel ensured that the decades-old cedar trees would encompass the villa, acting as a barrier against media intrusion.{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=227}} Messel took advantage of the panoramic views of the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea by installing glass-panelled internal doors and windows to blend the interior and exterior environment. The design features large stained glass windows. Other than the living room, the four bedrooms and the kitchen integrated this Neo-Georgian style as they were organized to be separated into two corresponding wings, aligned on either side of the axis of the house.{{Cite journal|last=Adam|first=Robert|date=11 January 2017|title=Neo-georgian architecture 1880–1970: a reappraisal|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2017.1278815|journal=Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability|volume=10|issue=2|pages=255–256|doi=10.1080/17549175.2017.1278815|s2cid=151345284|issn=1754-9175}} Down through the terrace, Messel cultivated a garden full of calla lilies, oleanders, hibiscus and bougainvillea. Adjacent to the lawn, laid a pool, which allowed swimmers to be at eye-level with the horizon of the Caribbean Sea.Dempster, Nigel (1983). H.R.H. The Princess Margaret. London: Qaurtet Books. p. 88.

Messel also had to take into account the tropical weather conditions. The roof was designed to be structurally sound against storms and to allow for rainwater catchments. The flooring consists of decorative Caribbean ceramic tiles, in contrast with bamboo furniture pieces the princess imported from London. These combinations of styles were a deliberate artistic choice of Messel to create the Caribbean Messel architecture. In 2003, Tennant stated that the ‘house had considerable charm’,{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=120}} noting Messel's influence, "Oliver had instilled the essence of the West Indies in a little cottage. It gave Princess Margaret the greatest possible pleasure not to be reminded of the grandeur of what she was".{{Cite journal|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|title=Les Jolies Eaux|url=https://archive.architecturaldigest.com/article/2003/10/les-jolies-eaux|journal=Architectural Digest|volume=60|pages=290}} The Princess was also involved in the interior design, choosing furnishings and decorations including Annigoni's portrait of her sister the Queen, which hung in the center of the house.{{Cite journal|last=Lowenthal|first=David|date=1 April 2007|title=Islands, Lovers, and Others|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1931-0846.2007.tb00399.x|journal=Geographical Review|volume=97|issue=2|pages=202–229|doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2007.tb00399.x|bibcode=2007GeoRv..97..202L |s2cid=163129110|issn=0016-7428}}

Princess Margaret visited the villa frequently, beginning her affair with Roddy Llewellyn there.{{Cite web|last=Blakemore|first=Erin|title=When Princess Margaret's Affair Hit the Tabloids—and Torpedoed Her Marriage|url=https://www.history.com/news/princess-margaret-affair-roddy-llewellyn-divorce-antony-armstrong-jones-lord-snowdon|access-date=20 November 2020|website=HISTORY|date=16 November 2020 |language=en}} She had met Llewellyn through the Tennants (the Glenconners). In 1976, paparazzi captured images of the pair, creating a media scandal. Anne Tennant voiced her concerns to biographers about introducing the pair to each other after the affair was publicized stating, "heavens, what have I done?"{{Cite web|last=Teeman|first=Tim|date=16 November 2020|title=Her Own Private Island: Why Princess Margaret Loved Mustique More Than Any Palace|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a30139905/princess-margaret-mustique-island-home/|access-date=20 November 2020|website=Town & Country|language=en-US}} The affair contributed to the generally poor press coverage the princess received. John Pearson noted in his biography of the royal family that many in Britain decried the expense of the princess's holidays, which saw her described as a "royal parasite".{{Cite book|last=Pearson|first=John|title=The Ultimate Family: The Making of the Royal House of Windsor|publisher=Bloomsbury Reader|year=2011|location=London|pages=37}}

In 1996 Princess Margaret gave the property to her son, David Linley, as a wedding gift,{{Cite news|title=Mystique of the billionaires' island|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/mystique-of-the-billionaires-island-1.334022|access-date=19 November 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times}} and perhaps partly to minimise death duties.{{Cite web|last=Goldsmith|first=Margie|title=Toucan Hill, Mustique: Fit For A Sultan And Sultana|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2019/03/28/toucan-hill-mustique-fit-for-a-sultan-and-sultina/|access-date=19 November 2020|website=Forbes|language=en}} Linley subsequently sold the villa in 1999 for £2.4 million, reportedly to the distress of his mother.{{Cite web|date=23 May 2008|title=Meet Mr and Mrs Linley, also known as the Glumleys|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/meet-mr-and-mrs-linley-also-known-as-the-glumleys-6631881.html|access-date=19 November 2020|website=Evening Standard|language=en}} The estate was sold to an American couple, with Irish links, who simplified the interior design, introducing Irish cultural elements. The villa is available to rent.

Les Jolies Eaux has been referenced in a number of television shows{{Cite web|last=Whitlock|first=Cathy|date=17 November 2019|title=On the set of Netflix's The Crown season 3|url=https://www.admiddleeast.com/art-design/design/on-the-set-of-netflixs-the-crown-season-3|access-date=2 November 2020|website=Architectural Digest Middle East}} including in the third and fourth series of the Netflix's The Crown.{{Cite news|last=Teeman|first=Tim|date=December 2019|title=Princess Margaret's Love Affair With The Island Of Mustique|page=6|work=Town & Country}}{{Cite book|last=Lacey|first=Robert|title=The Crown: The Official Companion – Political Scandal, Personal Struggle, and the Years That Defined Elizabeth II (1956–1977)|publisher=Crown Archetype|year=2019|isbn=9780525573371|volume=2|location=London|pages=23–50}} The set production designer, Martin Childs, consulted the archives of Oliver Messel to accurately represent the interior design of Princess Margaret's estate{{Cite web|last=Whitlock|first=Cathy|date=17 November 2019|title=On the set of Netflix's The Crown season 3|url=https://www.admiddleeast.com/art-design/design/on-the-set-of-netflixs-the-crown-season-3|access-date=2 November 2020|website=Architectural Digest Middle East}} and sought a similar structure for exterior shots,{{Cite web|title=The extraordinary story behind the sets of The Crown season 3|url=https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/the-crown-season-3-set-design|access-date=19 November 2020|website=House & Garden|date=18 November 2019 |language=en-GB}} eventually settling on a villa in southern Spain.{{Citation|last=Meng|first=Bingchun|title=Mediatization and political scandal|date=29 March 2019|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781351173001-7|work=The routledge companion to media and scandal|pages=67–75|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9781351173001-7|isbn=978-1-351-17300-1|s2cid=159328602 |access-date=19 November 2020}} Les Jolies Eaux was also featured in the second episode of the BBC documentary series, Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal.{{Cite web|title=Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bkz5wv|access-date=20 November 2020|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.mustique-island.com/villa/les-jolies-eaux Listing on Mustique's official site]

{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom}}

Category:Royal residences in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Category:Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon

Category:Houses completed in 1972

Category:Architectural elements