L'Arbois

René Darde, trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, joined the Parisian architectural firm Sauvage et Sarazin in 1912. Assigned to oversee the construction of the golf-hotel of Beauvallon in Grimaud, he settled in the Mediterranean region. As the son-in-law of a prominent landowner in Sainte-Maxime, he gained numerous commissions during the 1920s with the development of this seaside resort, including beach architecture, commercial buildings, recreational facilities, and many villas in Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Raphaël. In 1926, he collaborated with Prost on the planning, expansion, and beautification of Sainte-Maxime, later becoming the town's architect-urban planner.