History of The House

The colonial style mansion was built by Colonel Charles Michel Jean Honoré Tronyo from 1921-1923.

Colonel Tronyo was born in Estagel a closely village on May 25th 1896. He was an aviation Colonel who fought in World War 1 and 2. He was married to Marie AlphonsineOctavie Thérèse Fabre and they had two children together; Jean Tronyo born in Lodève, France in 1902 and Geneviève Gabrielle Tronyo born in Saida, Algeria in 1909.

We believe that it was the Colonel’s time spent in Saida, Algeria in 1909 that served as inspiration for the tile work throughout the villa and the overall colonial style of the house.

During WW1 Colonel Tronyo commanded the 259th infantry regiment and fought in the famous Battle of Verdun. According to our findings in the military archives; Lieutenant Colonel Tronyo was deeply affected by the losses his regiment had taken and the fatigue caused by the fever he contracted during his stay in Africa. He was evacuated during the night of the 7th of March. Batalion commander Pochelu replaced him at the head of his severely depleted regiment.

Verdun is a place historically known by all French and Germans to be the worst place to be during that period of time. It was a great butchery of men, but an important turning point of the battle and therefore historical moment. Lieutenant Colonel Tronyo returned to service in September, 6 months after a leave of absence.

On September 23rd 1918 Colonel Tronyo, yet again, showed magnificent courage and great endurance when he fought across stubbornly defended enemy country covered in formidable fortifications and machine gun nests. He repeatedly assaulted and pushed back the enemy to the town of Py. Allying heroism to the art of maneuvering he captured 320 prisoners therein 8 officers, 2 canons, 8 minenwerfer, 12 anti tank guns, 80 machine guns and a considerable amount of supplies and munitions.

He returned home sometime in 1921. This was the year he started building the house on his family estate (the whole area around Maison des Cèdres belonged to his family and was called Mas Tronyo). The property was finished in 1923.

In WW2 Colonel Tronyo served in the French army under the famous General Charles De Gaulle, before de Gaulle became the president. In 1940 Charles De Gaulle promoted the Colonel to a full fledged colonel and chief of staff of the French Free Air Force.

 

The property was sold to Mr. Viala & Mrs. Næss in March 2020 and the official handover took place on June 23rd 2020. They changed the title of the estate to «Maison des Cèdres» shortly thereafter.

Immediately after acquisition the extensive renovation began and is expected to be completed in May 2021.

Maison des Cèdres is open for reservations.