Designing Royalty: Stéphane Boudin’s Work with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor

The Storied Life of The Villa Windsor

I’ve long been fascinated by the residence located at 4 route du Champ-d’Entraînement in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, immediately adjacent to the Bois de Boulogne.

Under the stewardship of the Foundation Mansart, which conserves and promotes French heritage sites, the villa is currently undergoing extensive renovation and is estimated to open to the public for the first time in autumn 2025.

Photo Credit: Paris Match

The property has a fabled history, beginning in 1929 when it was built for politician and businessman Henri Lillaz. It later became the home of General Charles de Gaulle and his family from 1944 to 1946. From 1953, the villa gained international fame as the glamorous home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Photo Credit: Stephane Boudin, Villa Windsor, Paris

After the Duchess’s death in 1986, businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrods London and the Ritz Paris, took on the lease of the building from the City of Paris, completing a two-year restoration program and naming the property Villa Windsor.

This program restored the interior design of the villa created for the Windsors by Stéphane Boudin of the famed Paris interior design firm Maison Jansen, who in the following decade worked with Jacqueline Kennedy on the renovation of some areas of the White House.

Boudin crafted interiors for the Windsors that served as glittering stages for the dinner parties and entertainments the couple was known for throughout the 1950s and 1960s. 

Elements that were both dramatic and unforgettable included the entrance foyer with its astounding trompe-l’œil ceiling and faux marble paintwork, and the blue-toned dining room fitted with two mistral galleries complete with musical instruments and walls depicting chinoiserie scenes.

Photo Credit: Robert Siegler/INA/Getty Images

The renovation works currently underway will not see another restoration of Boudin’s acclaimed work, and so it remains to be seen how the villa will be redesigned in its next incarnation. I can’t wait to see in the coming months!