In 1932, Maxine Elliott (1868–1940) built directly on coast of the Golfe-Juan an imposing villa, which the magazine Punch later described as "a white palace set on the water.

"[1] Endowed with an acute business sense and a passion for society, the actress spent $350,000 at the time for this structure anchored on the rocks with its private port.

[5] Elsa Maxwell claimed – albeit without providing sources – that on the eve of the Second World War, the villa served as a meeting place for Anthony Eden, British minister of Foreign Affairs, and his French and Italian homologues.

She maintained the social traditions established by Elliott by giving dinner parties of 20 to 30 guests, which included Greta Garbo, Jack L. Warner or Maurice Chevalier.

Under the leadership of Elsa Maxwell, international café society as well as the "aristocracy of the French Riviera" continued to make the villa a center of attention for the press.

On May 27, 1949, after the prince married Rita Hayworth at the Vallauris town hall, a lavish reception was held at the villa: the swimming pool was perfumed with eau de Cologne[8] with the initial of the couple – made from flowers – floating on the surface of the water.

According to British writer Mary S. Lovell, since becoming property of the Saudi royal family, the Château de L'Horizon has been expanded and altered almost beyond recognition.