Serre de la Madone

Lawrence Johnston, who had made the garden of Hidcote Manor in the Cotswolds, could not grow warm-country plants there; on 24 June 1924 he bought land on the heights of Menton and turned a slope of lemon and olive trees into a pleasure garden on terraces, with a villa at 80 metres between the farmed and the wooded parts. Between 1927 and 1931 he travelled to South Africa, China and America for rare plants.

He left in 1940 and died here on 27 April 1958. Abandoned after 1986, the garden was classé on 12 December 1990 and bought by the Conservatoire du littoral in 1999, which began its rehabilitation.

Serre de la Madone is a listed building on Route du Val de Gorbio in Menton. The bus stop Serre de la Madone is a few steps away.