Villa Cavrois

Villa Cavrois is a modernist masterpiece designed by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, completed in 1932 in Croix, near Lille in northern France. Commissioned by the industrialist Paul Cavrois for his family, the villa stands as one of the most ambitious examples of the International Style in France, combining geometric brick facades with interiors conceived as a complete work of art, from the built-in furniture to the light fittings. After decades of neglect and partial demolition of its grounds, the French state acquired the property and undertook a meticulous restoration, reopening the villa to the public in 2015 under the care of the Centre des monuments nationaux.

Today visitors can explore the restored rooms, which retain the clean lines and rational elegance that Mallet-Stevens championed, alongside the formal gardens that have been gradually brought back to their original design. The villa is located in Croix, easily reached from Lille, and offers a rare opportunity to step inside a fully realised vision of early twentieth-century modernist domestic architecture.