Grace Kelly’s former “To Catch a Thief”
Castle for sale
To Catch a Thief was the last movie Grace
Kelly made with her mentor and dear friend,
Alfred Hitchcock, before she married Prince
Rainier III of Monaco - a real fairy-tale romance.
But contrary to popular belief and Frank
Sinatra’s lyrics in Young at Heart, fairy tales
don’t always come true. Before she retired
from film at age 26 to take on the official duties associated with her marriage, Kelly’s film
career had blossomed. High Noon, Dial M
for Murder, Rear Window and High Society
are rated all-time movie classics. In 1955,
Kelly co-starred with Cary Grant in To Catch
a Thief and fell in love with the Castle of la
Croix des Gardes where scenes of the film’s
masquerade ball were shot.
She told how she was entranced by the
grandeur of the structure, its elegant Florentine-style facades and manicured gardens
overlooking the Bay of Cannes.
It was later in 1955 when Rainier visited the
United States to propose to Kelly. They had
met while she was filming a tour of his palace at the same time he was under pressure
to find a wife and produce heirs, or Monaco
would revert to France according to a 1918
treaty. Armed with an engagement ring,
Rainier’s proposal was accepted by Grace,
a $2 million dowry was agreed upon by
her family and the wedding was set for the
spring of 1956. Grace was required to retire
from film, though in later years she reconsidered making more movies, but never acted
upon it.
Instead she directed her energies towards
philanthropic work for the principality. Grace
died at age 52 when the car in which she
and her youngest child, Stephanie, were riding plunged off a hairpin curve on the Grand
Cornish high above Monaco in 1982.
120
The Castle of la Croix des Gardes, so admired
by Grace Kelly during the filming of To Catch
a Thief, is now for sale for the first time in 56
years by the owner of Perrier. Built in 1919, it
is located in the famed Quartier des Anglais,
surrounded by other notable mansions of its
era, 700-feet above the Mediterranean.
With almost 13,000 square feet of living
space, the castle sits on 24 acres and has
thirteen bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
Also on the grounds are a guest house, staff
quarters, an orangery, a large infinity-edged
pool, a winter garden, Turkish lodge and
other ancillary buildings.
Classically styled gardens offer views of the
sea and snow-peaked mountains. The palatial compound’s proximity to Cannes offers some of the best dining, shopping and
cultural events in the world. Though the
prices of high-end European properties are
not usually published, it is estimated by the
French newspaper Le Figaro to be about
$53.5 million.
Article and photographs provided by TopTenRealEstateDeals.com
THE WORLDWIDE PROPERTY BIBLE - www.simplymedia-group.com