The Villa Where The Rolling Stones Partied Was A Hub Of Bad Behavior

It started as a way to escape paying taxes and ended in one of the wildest chapters in rock and roll history. In the early 1970s, the Rolling Stones were looking at about a quarter of a million dollars each in tax debt back home in the UK, so they started a trend — tax exile. They ducked out to the South of France to hold on to their coin, make one of their best albums, and, most of all, cause some serious trouble.

French hideaway

The tax rate in the UK at the time was 93%, which nearly tapped the Stones dry. So the band headed to Côte d’Azur in the meantime, where they searched for homes worthy of the world's greatest rockstars. One luxurious piece of real estate caught Keith Richards' eye.

Rockstar crash pad

For a cool $2500 a month, the Villa Nellcôte property checked all the essential boxes. The decor was outlandishly regal, and it was surrounded by trees that provided crucial privacy. But it was the last grim factor, the house’s history, that really appealed to Keith Richards.

Dark past

A sprawling mansion with 16 rooms, the villa served as Gestapo headquarters in 1940 Nazi-occupied France. Forty years later, the home bore traces of its dark past, where it's rumored there are still swastikas carved onto surfaces in the basement. The grandeur and disturbing history sealed the deal for Keith. Nellcôte became his home.

Keith's rules

The other bandmates had their own properties, but it was Keith’s place where everyone seemed to congregate. He set the tone for both work and play. As the band’s drummer, Charlie Watts, said in the documentary Stones In Exile, "Keith's a very bohemian and eccentric person, he really is." And "eccentric" couldn't begin to cover it.