The call went to the concierge atHotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, legendary luxury property on the French Riviera in the spring of 2007. Angelina Jolie’s assistant said she and her boyfriend Brad Pitt were looking for a big property to rent in the south of France.. Thus began a magnificent vacation away from the spotlight for Jolie, Pitt and their four children at a castle with a staff of 12. The place was so charming that they decided to look for an even larger and more isolated property, not to rent, but to buy.
In June, Brad Pitt was in a twin-engine helicopter, carefully studying the green Provencal landscape. “There were seven of us: two pilots, Brad and Angelina, their first illegitimate daughter, Shiloh, their American real estate agent, and myself,” he recalls. Jonathan Gray, a hotel-recommended real estate agent who organized a top-secret tour of the region. Three days spent flying from one place to another in search of what Pitt would later call “a European base for our family… where our children can run freely, away from the attention of Hollywood celebrities“.
Between the Riviera and Provence, they visited more than a dozen properties, from stately mansions to vast estates. Finally, on the morning of the third day, they flew over a magnificent castle and vineyard in a 400-hectare area located in the valley. Name, Miraval (miracle in French), reflected his greatness. They were located about eighty kilometers east of Aix-en-Provence, not far from the small town of Corrance with a population of 830 people.
“Brad and Angelina immediately decided to visit him,” Gray recalls. Wine has been produced in Miraval for centuries. Privileged by a noble Italian family for five generations, it was sold in 1972 to French jazz musician Jacques Loussier, who produced red, white and rosé wines here and also converted an old water tower into a recording studio that attracted artists such as Sting, Sade and Pink Floyd (in 1979 the British band recorded their historic album The Wall here).
In 1992 Miraval was purchased for approximately $5 million by American engineer Tom Bove and his family. Beauvais, who made his fortune in water treatment before getting what he called a “wine ball,” orchestrated the processing steps from vineyard to cellar in an effort to produce selective quality productions, including Pink Floyd rosé, which was launched in 2006. But now Miraval was back on the market: Beauvais had lost his wife and was ready to move on. And suddenly one morning a helicopter landed and two people got out.
of the most famous stars in the world of cinema. Pitt shook hands with him, Jolie took Shiloh in her arms and “asked for a place to change the baby,” Bove says. So the couple and their intermediaries explored the vast estate, a wonderland of olive and oak trees, lavender fields, a lake, terraced vineyards, and ancient stone buildings. including the manor house with 35 rooms.
Beauvais believed that Angelina Jolie deliberately left the initiative to her husband. “It made him talk. As far as I know, she was very kind. Now you read all these things, but they were a very nice couple, very nice, they were in love.“. And, of course, fall in love with Miraval Manor. Beauvais invited everyone to stop and eat: “Brad and I
we moved the tables to the garden, dined, and also drank excellent wines, and then went to rest.” Before boarding the helicopter again, Pitt told Bove that they would return. “I was sure of it. They seemed to want to buy it before they left.”.
Pair actually bought the property in May 2008 for 25 million euros. Conceived as a family getaway, Miraval has grown into an upscale business venture producing honey, olive oil, a skincare line and music from Miraval Studios. It all started with a signature rosé, Miraval Côte de Provencewhose income has reached
$50 million in 2021. Beauvais agreed to stay and continue running Miraval’s wine business, keeping 90 acres for himself. From his office, he watched the endless stream of cars delivering family items. “One van after another arrived with furniture perfectly packed by the best movers.” Managed operations, Bove says, Brad Pitt.
Along with the goods, their staff also arrived: “Nanny from Vietnam, the Congo and the USA.”, according to one of the sources, as well as two personal assistants (not always present); “cook, maid, two cleaners, dishwasher, four bodyguards.” Repair work began immediately. “The style is more Californian than Provençal,” Beauvais notes. The old stone chapel became a parking lot for SUVs, which the family used to get around the huge lot. And finally, the new landlords arrived with their growing brood of children. They joined a large group of celebrities who decided to buy a house in Provence. and which would include within a hundred kilometers of Miraval Johnny Depp and then-partner Vanessa Paradis, George Lucas, George Clooney, John Malkovich and many others.
For a certain period, they would have been at the head of the group: the most famous couple, known throughout the world as Brangelina. After endless wanderings through a series of mega-mansions and outlying hideouts, they finally found the shelter they were looking for in Miraval. They moved into this beautiful estate when Angelina Jolie is about to give birth to what some media outlets are calling “wonderful twins”: Knox and Vivienne.born at 18.27 and at
18.28 on July 12, 2008 at the Lenval Children’s Hospital in Nice.
Before the wedding in 2014, as a token of his devotion, Pitt gave his bride something that was very close to his heart: at the time of Miraval’s purchase, the shares of the winery and the estate were divided, giving him 60% and her 40%. In December 2013, Pitt gave her 10 percent of his share. Now they were equal partners.