Johnny Depp’s French village: the estate listed for $63 million that never sold

Are you something of a bon viveur? If you enjoy all the good things in life that Provence has to offer (we’re talking fine wine, excellent cheese, lavender fields, sunflowers, long summers and fragrant cypress trees), Johnny Depp’s French village could be for you. But you’ll have needed $63 million to make the hilltop village your own, which may explain why it never sold.

The Hollywood actor, who is making headlines for other reasons currently, reportedly relisted the estate for $55 million last year after putting it on the market in 2015 and 2016 at various prices, from $27 million to $63 million, without making a sale.

And while many might consider $55 million a high price for some of the world's best homes, what can you expect from a whole village owned by one of the world's most famous movie stars? We take the tour.

Johnny Depp bought the abandoned village, just 17 miles from celebrity playground of St Tropez, back in 2001 at the height of Pirates of the Caribbean fame.

He reportedly spent around $10 million renovating the village buildings, sensitively restoring the stone and wood-beamed structures, during his 14-year relationship with French-actress and singer Vanessa Paradis. The couple enjoyed the estate together until their separation, and Johnny then looked to sell.

The owner of the village can enjoy their own private restaurant, Chez Marceline, as well as a main house and six guest houses, one of which was the original village church.

Collectively, Johnny Depp’s French village boasts 2,900 square feet with 15 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms.

The grounds include two swimming pools, a charming town square with lush landscaping and outdoor dining, a skate park, a full gym, and a wine cave, which boasts decor that could be straight out of the Pirates’ film franchise, including a decorative skull.

The estate is dotted with 300-year-old oaks, gnarly olive trees, and vineyards, offering bucolic scenery and a highly sought-after lifestyle.

The village is a short convertible car ride away from St Tropez, which has been a draw for the jet set crowd since the 1950s, when Brigitte Bardot arrived to film And God Created Woman and never left. The resort was already popular with an elite crowd after the pointillist Paul Signac led artists to to the area in the late 19th century, including the likes of Picasso and Sartre. However, it was Brigitte that garnered its worldwide attention.

A host of celebrities followed in her footsteps, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Moss, and Elton John. And, of course, its a designer shopping mecca, with top-end names like Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana peppered along the cobbled streets, particularly in the triangle between Place des Lices, Rue Gambetta and Rue Allard.

And for some seriously celebrity-spotting? Head to the beach restaurants of Pampelonne beach where, on any given day, you might spot anyone from Sylvester Stallone to Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Where does Johnny Depp live now?

Johnny Depp spends much of his time at his home in LA's Hollywood Hills.

He has been the owner of several unusual properties over the years including a collection of penthouses in downtown Los Angeles, a 45-acre private island in the Bahamas, and a horse farm in Kentucky that he purchased twice, the second time as a gift for his mother, who died in 2016.

The five penthouses are in an Art Deco building Los Angeles; he and Amber Heard lived in one of these while married, with friends and family living in the others. He put it up for sale after he and Heard parted in 2016.

The private three-island atoll called Little Halls Pond Cay in the Bahamas, which Depp bought for $5.35 million, and still owns, is where he and Heard married in 2015.

Johnny Depp also owns five neighboring homes in the Hollywood Hills worth $19million.

He also owned a 150-foot yacht. He called it Vajoliroja (the name uses the first two letters of his first wife's, his, and his children's names – Vanessa, Johnny, Lily-Rose and Jack). He reportedly sold it to JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame in 2016.