At 94 years old, Philippe Bouvard finally announced he was retiring…next year. But the radio host who thought he would spend happy days in his villa in the south of France was forced to reconsider his plans. Instead, he was forced to to relocate in a “small” appartement and revised its claims downward.
While many workers wait patiently to reach retirement age, retirement, this is not really the case for the native of Coulommiers. Indeed, after more than 60 years of careerhe will finally hang up his phone in January 2025. It is in his last column of the season Portraits of Philippe Bouvardthis Sunday, June 23, that he told the news to RTL listeners.
Philippe Bouvard will finally spend his retirement in an apartment
But the one who animated The Big Heads until 2014 was also forced to change its way of life. And while he was the owner of a magnificent property for a long time, it was in an apartment that he spent his old age. Indeed, in 2021, he sold the famous villa Katouchkalocated in Valbonne on the heights of Cannes.
“This house is too big, too heavy. THE taxes have reached a confiscatory level. So, I part with it to go to a appartement smaller by 100 m², which is already not bad. I couldn’t take everything. It pains me, but it’s more reasonable.“, Philippe Bouvard already confided to the newspaper The Parisian in 2016. Before adding: “I am changing my lifestyle to make it simpler and above all cheaper.”
photo credit: C8 Philippe Bouvard
Philippe Bouvard was forced to sell his villa and reduce his lifestyle
It must be said that the nonagenarian spent lavishly. The one who is a legend of the French audiovisual landscape had also said more during an interview given to Parisian in 2022.”I was still very pretentious in my life. I thought I was the center of the world. I made a lot of money, but I still managed to live beyond my means.”, he said.
“I’ve had 200 carsthree villas with three swimming pools even though I don’t even know how to swim.“, he added with his incomparable sense of humor. However, the Katouchka villa had everything to please with 442 m² de surface habitable on a plot of 3.90 m². On both levels, it was possible to find “large and bright rooms, a small garden planted with multi-colored flowers, a pool whose background mosaic outlines a Persian carpet and an office which opens onto a large terrace.”as the magazine told Purepeople in an article published last December.
Philippe Bouvard bought his villa following a twist of fate.
Philippe Bouvard really enjoys the Côte d’Azur. “I quickly realized that when I set foot here, an hour later, I was another man, with other interests. I see life in a different way. I feel like I’m in vacation perpetual even when I work all day.“
photo credit: C8 Philippe Bouvard
He had decided to buy this exceptional property following an incredible mishap. In fact, he had first purchased a plot of land, hoping to build the house of his dreams there. But everything didn’t go as planned. “I started by buying a terrain in Tanneron, in the Var. When the work began, I realized that I had been saves on its surface.”, he revealed in 2009 to Figaro. The sale was therefore canceled after seven years of proceedings.
