La Madrague is expected to welcome visitors from summer 2027. The announcement made on 13 November by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation concerns the house in Saint-Tropez associated with the actress, not the immediate opening of a new museum. Small groups, reservations and preserving the house in the condition left by its owner: the project envisages an intimate visit, the details of which remain to be finalised.
According to the AFP newswire report published by RTL Infos, the Foundation confirmed the opening following a report by Le Parisien. Its spokesperson explains that Bardot did not want to turn her home into a museum, while accepting the idea of visits. This distinction is at the heart of the project: showing an inhabited place rather than promising, at this stage, an exhibition tracing an entire career.
A house in the history of Saint-Tropez
The Saint-Tropez tourist office dates the purchase of La Madrague to 1958, near Canoubiers beach. However, Bardot’s local history began before she settled there. Her parents already owned a holiday home in the village; cinema would later give this connection another dimension.
The tourist office recalls the role of «And God Created Woman», Roger Vadim’s film released in 1956. Exterior scenes were filmed in the La Ponche district and at Pampelonne, in the commune of Ramatuelle. The house bought two years later is therefore part of a wider geography: that of an actress, her films and several places that the public has come to associate with Saint-Tropez.
The future visit offers another way into this history. Seeing a home is not the same as watching a film again or discovering its filming locations. These are complementary points of entry, provided no anecdote or significance is attributed to each room that the documents do not support.
Why the Foundation is behind the project
La Madrague is not solely part of cinema’s memory. It also features in the history published by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. The organisation was founded in Saint-Tropez in 1986, then moved its headquarters to Paris in 1988. Its timeline links the donation of the property to its recognition as a public-interest organisation on 21 February 1992.
This sequence sheds light on the Foundation’s role in the current announcement. The home has long been connected to the animal protection organisation; its opening does not mark the creation of the latter. The institution also recalls the acquisition, in 1992, of Mare Auzou, which became its first refuge, followed by the development of other refuges through donations.
These details prevent the house from being reduced to a celebrity address. They help explain how a private place fits into an institutional history. However, they do not in themselves say anything about a future entrance fee or how any potential proceeds will be used: these details are not specified in the announcement consulted.
What to check before planning a visit
AFP reports that the small size of the house means visits must be by reservation and in small groups. Access via a local coastal road makes it impossible to plan arrivals by coach. The announced timeframe — next summer — should therefore be distinguished from an admissions system that is already operational.
As of 14 November, the information examined gives no precise opening date, admission price or booking schedule. Nor does it describe which areas will be accessible or what arrangements are planned for people with reduced mobility. An announcement of visits is not enough to infer these details.
When planning a stay, the best guide will be information published by the Foundation or local tourism contacts. In the meantime, the project can be understood for what it already offers: the prospect of discovering a house whose history connects Saint-Tropez, cinema and its owner’s commitment, without claiming that visits have already begun.
Archive photograph: Brigitte Bardot on the set of «Vie privée», in Geneva in 1961. Photo: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Photographer: Comet Photo AG (Zürich) / Com_L10-0171-0017, CC BY-SA 4.0.
