Topline
A five-bedroom villa nestled among the gardens that supply the world’s most famous luxury perfumers has hit the market on the French Riviera for $4 million (€3.45 million).
A villa nestled among perfumers flower fields in Grasse, France.
Home Hunts
Key Facts
Once home to a local perfumer, the 2.5-acre estate includes a 4,000-square-foot house, climate-controlled wine cellar/tasting room, two-bedroom guest house, pool house and large covered car port.
The property, which dates back to 1935, includes an olive grove, orangery, boules court and several covered terraces.
The estate is 10 minutes from the center of historic Grasse, France, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a global perfume-making hub since the 1700s.
Sixty different perfumers source their essential oils, concretes, absolutes and other raw materials from Grasse—representing about half of the production of all French perfumes—and brands like Dior and Chanel (Chanel No. 5 has been made from Grasse jasmine since 1921) maintain plantations near town.
LVMH opened a fragrance creation center shared between fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Dior inside an abandoned perfumery in Grasse in 2016, Lancôme purchased the Domaine de la Rose botanical garden in 2023 and Hermès maintains its own flower fields in the region.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts:We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739or sign up here: joinsubtext.com/forbes.
A 1935 villa in Grasse, France.
Home Hunts
The Grasse, France estate.
Home Hunts
Inside the perfumer’s villa.
Home Hunts
The climate-controlled wine cellar/tasting room.
Home Hunts
Key Background
sign labeling Grasse the “Perfume Capital of the World” greets visitors at the town’s border. The town’s olfactory history lies in the scenting of leather goods—a tanner is said to have delighted French Queen Catherine de Medici with a pair of gloves scented to hide the smell of leather—and evolved to perfumes as leather production declined. At its peak in the 1940s, annual flower crop volume reached 5,000 tons per year before competition in growth of crops like rose, lavender and jasmine strengthened in places like Bulgaria, India and Ukraine. Around 40 tons of perfume plants are now grown in Grasse per year. Thousands of locals are still directly or indirectly employed by the perfume industry and tourists from all over the world visit to mix their own scenes in the workshops of historic companies.
Crucial Quote
“The same rose or the same jasmine grown in Egypt or Morocco, it will be different from the rose grown in Grasse,” Christophe Mège, head gardener at Grasse’s perfume museum, told NPR. “It’s like wine, you can have the same type of grape, but you won’t have the same wine because of the sun, because of the soil, because of the terroir.”
Surprising Fact
In the 1800s, Queen Victoria is said to have visited Grasse to buy her perfumes while on a vacation in Nice.
Grasse in the South of France has for many years been a centre for the production of perfume. The pictures show jasmine pickers in the fields above Grasse.
Corbis via Getty Images
Lavender and jasmine are harvested for the manufacturing of French perfume.
Sygma via Getty Images