Photo © Manuel Bougot

Collectively called Cap Moderne, Gray’s villa with these Corbusian structures, including a bistro, was listed in 1999 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and bought by the Conservatoire du Littoral to oversee its preservation. Now restored inside and out, and open since June, Gray’s E-1027 cost $6.5 million to revive, with 45 percent of the sum from private sponsorship and fundraising and the rest subsidized by regional authorities and the state. While the home slowly underwent work, the rest of Cap Moderne reopened in 2015. 

Photo © Manuel Bougot

The villa kickstarted Gray’s career as an architect, after working for years as a designer in Paris in art, textiles, rugs, lacquer work, and furnishings—from bent steel chairs to tiered cabinets with swiveling drawers. She built another house nearby in 1931, and by the mid-1940s, began designing larger cultural and social projects.

Reviving Gray’s building has been a labor of love, with as much attention spent on repairing its eroded concrete walls and recreating her custom furniture pieces inside, some of which are built into walls while others move and fold, resulting in a highly flexible space. Four of the vibrant murals Corbu later painted have also been restored, with one screened-off in the living room so as not to detract from Gray’s vision.