Villa Sauber to expand sevenfold in major NMNM overhaul
By Michael Moretti, MonacoViews Editorial
The Nouveau Musée National de Monaco's Villa Sauber will undergo a major restoration and extension between 2026 and 2029, growing from 600m² to over 4,000m².
Work on the Villa Sauber, the Belle Époque seafront property on Avenue Princesse Grace that forms one half of the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, is set to begin in September 2026 and run through to September 2029. The three-year project will transform the building from a relatively intimate 600 square metres into an institution of over 4,000 square metres, a sevenfold increase that fundamentally changes what the NMNM can offer residents and visitors alike.
The expansion goes well beyond extra floor space. The restored Villa Sauber will for the first time give the museum the capacity to display its permanent collections properly, something the current building's scale has long constrained. The larger footprint will also allow the NMNM to host significant temporary exhibitions of a scale that has previously been difficult to stage within the Principality.
For those who live near the Larvotto end of the coast, the construction period will be one to watch. The Villa Sauber sits in one of Monaco's more residential stretches, and a three-year project of this ambition will inevitably reshape the immediate neighbourhood before delivering what should become a considerably more substantial cultural landmark on the eastern seafront.