Villa Anita, built around 1880 in Barcelonnette, south of the medieval perimeter, was originally a simple investment property, housing the tobacco administration on the ground floor.
When it was purchased in 1920 by Louis Gastinel, a former merchant in Mexico associated with Puerto de Veracruz in Mexico City, the building was given a new façade, with most of the renovation work concentrated on the northern elevation facing the street. This work was carried out by Marseille architect Pierre Julien, who had worked fifteen years earlier on the Durango (1906) and Manon (1907) villas.
A projecting front section supported by two enormous corbels, pierced by a row of French windows with wooden railings and framed by two colossal Ionic pilasters, marks the axis of the new, now orderly façade.
While the first level is treated with large partitions, on the second level each bay is highlighted by a white-painted frame. Under the cornice, a frieze alternates between polychrome ceramic tiles and panels.
A projecting front section supported by two enormous corbels, pierced by a row of French windows with wooden railings and framed by two colossal Ionic pilasters, marks the axis of the new, now orderly façade.
While the first level is treated with large partitions, on the second level each bay is highlighted by a white-painted frame. Under the cornice, a frieze alternates between polychrome ceramic tiles and panels.
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