The Villa Chimère is the last remaining period property along the beachfront in the resort of Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée) to have resisted the concrete mixers that arrived in the 1960s.
The property now sits uneasily sandwiched between two undistinguished apartment blocks that rise high above it.
For several years the owners of the property have fought a succession of legal battles with the local council over its future.
The owners, six children who inherited the property and who do not live in it, have sought to demolish the property to make way for a 7-storey block of apartments.
The council have resisted attempts at demolition, refusing planning permission for the new development, stating that the issue was a matter of principle. "It's one of our oldest villas, built in 1875. If it were to disappear, it's a whole section of beachfront history that would disappear", the local council have stated.
They classified the villa as a property of architectural interest, a decision that was challenged by the owners and thrown out by the courts who stated "its state of disrepair, its environment, its lack of visibility and the fact that the Architectes des Bâtiments de France considered it unrepresentative of the Sablais heritage did not justify the need to preserve it."
In a last throw of the dice the council, in a somewhat incongruous move, decided to classify the beachfront area around it a conservation area, thereby giving it increased rights to control demolition.
However, the owners of the villa contested the creation of a conservation area, and in a lower court ruling the judge stated that the area had 'no particular heritage or architectural interest, delimiting a homogeneous facade facing the shore; whereas, thus, the objective of protection which the authors of the local plan intended to confer on this area is motivated only by the presence of Villa La Chimère'...
The council appealed the decision, but last month the court of appeal sitting in Nantes threw out the proposal by the council for a conservation area on procedural grounds, ruling that it had failed to comply with rules on public consultation.
In the view of the judges, given the significant planning constraints that would be created by a conservation area, due compliance with public consultation procedures was imperative.
The local council have stated that they will not appeal the decision to the final court of appeal, the Conseil d’Etat.
The local newspaper and social media reports of the dispute show public opinion firmly in favour of preservation of the villa, with strong support instead for the demolition of the apartment blocks either side of it.
The local council have also stated that although they may not now be able to protect the building from demolition, planning permission would be required for a new building, which would have to have to be considered within the framework of their flood planning policies, which constrains new development along the beachfront. The issue did emerge in earlier court hearings, when the arguments of the council were largely dismissed. Another legal battle is therefore in prospect should the council once again refuse planning permission.
The early 20th Century photo below shows the villa alongside other properties which have since been demolished.
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