Villa Maria Serena

In 1922, Foucher's grandson, Louis-Jacques La Caze (1883-1964), sold the villa to the Anglo-American bachelor banker, Hans Henry Konig, who'd previously made his home at Ardenrun Place in Surrey. In 1929, he employed the architect Henri Cerutti-Maori to carry out various improvements: he added a further floor; kitchens to the rear; the north east wing for staff; the eastern portico onto which the Dining Room opens; and replaced the belvedere with a water tank. Konig returned to England during World War II and in 1947 sold the villa and gardens south of the railway line to the town of Menton, and the gardens north of the line to his head gardener. Today, the villa is the town's honorary town hall and its Botanical Gardens (known as "Little Africa") are open to the public.