Villa Etelinda
The private residence of queen Margherita of Savoy
Villa Etelinda, also known as Villa Bischoffsheim which is its old name, was built by the famous French architect Charles Garnier in 1873 under the commission of the French-German banker Raphaël Bischoffsheim. Charles Garnier built his own villa in Bordighera two years before; after several proposed designs, a similar style to his residence has been chosen for this villa. The building was completed in two years and hosted an incredible number of famous people such as the microbiologist Louis Pasteur and the queen of Italy Margherita of Savoy.
In 1896 the villa was acquired by Claude Bowes-Lyon, XIV count of Strathmore and Kinghorne who changed its name in villa Etelinda. Lord Claude Bowes-Lyon was Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon's father; Lady Elisabeth was the mother of Queen Elisabeth II of England. Both of them, mother and daughter, stayed in this villa several times. The villa is included in a famous painting "Les Villas à Bordighera" by Claude Monet, kept at Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
