Saint Hospitius lived here as a recluse during the sixth century. Thus, the cape is sometimes called Cap-Saint-Hospice or Cap-Saint-Sospis.
Once the domain of King Leopold II of Belgium, Cap Ferrat is now graced with a number of magnificent villas.
Notable properties on Cap Ferrat include the Villa Mauresque (originally built in 1906 for King Leopold II's father-confessor), bought by the English novelist W. Somerset Maugham in 1928, who lived there before and after World War II and until his death in 1965. The Villa Maryland is owned by the co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen.
The English songwriter and playwright Noël Coward referenced the Cap in his song "I Went to a Marvellous Party" from his 1939 revue Set to Music, with the lyric: "Quite for no reason/I'm here for the season/And high as a kite,/Living in error/With Maud at Cap Ferrat/Which couldn't be right..."
For the definitive luxury escape… visit Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. Courtesy of the hotelThe Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat ... It was during this period, in 1908, that the region’s most iconic hotel, The Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat, was built.
... de Rothschild at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat was designed by French architect Aaron Messiah and built between 1907 and 1912 for BaronessBéatrice de Rothschild, the wife of banker BaronMaurice de Ephrussi.