Residences

The residences of the artist reflect his affection for historic houses. Some of the buildings led a miserable existence before Latzke restored them to their former splendour, adding all amenities for modern living. When designing the interiors, he is supported by his wife Doris, who places more importance on comfort for the family, which includes three children, four grandchildren and three dogs, than the representation and design.

Stepprath Manor

The Stepprath Mansion, where Rainer Maria Latzke moved in with his wife Doris and their young son Rene in 1982, was the main house of a formerly large country estate near Aachen at the Belgian border.

Chateau Thal

In 1986 Rainer Maria Latzke acquired the Belgian Chateau Thal.  The 1750 built castle is situated 15 km from the German border in the beautiful setting of Eastern Belgium with its rolling hills and deep forests.  The Castle consists of 38 rooms and is surrounded by a park with old chestnut trees and a waterlily pond.

Malibu

In 1990, Latzke took a break and moved to California. At Zuma Beach in Malibu the family found a suitable property for their retreat.

St. Pancrace

In 1995 Latzke bought a provincial villa in St Pancrace, a small village above Nice, and converted it into a spacious guest house for family and friends.

Villa Paradou

In the 1996 the Family moved to Monte Carlo. With events such as the F1 Grand Prix it sometimes becomes very crowded in Monaco, so the family looked for a refuge in the hills of Nice. In Cap Ferrat I discovered an estate with a beautiful but derelict villa on it. It was a masterpiece of the famous French architect Charles Garnier who also built the Paris Opera.

It was owned by the late Henry Chretien, who was a renowned astronomer and the inventor of the Cinemascope technology for which he was rewarded an Oscar. When he died in the 50´s he donated the estate to the AAA, the American Astronomical Society, who just let it stand abandoned since then and had refused all bids. When Latzke negotiated with the AAA, they initially refused his bid as well like all the others before, but then he mentioned his uncle´s name, Arnold Kohlschütter, who was an astronomer and invented the spectral analysis method. It emerged that the director of the Society wrote a thesis on this specific subject. Since he was happy to be in touch with a relative of Arnold´s, Latzke was able to buy it. Beneath the overgrown trees and bushes there was even a gazebo found constructed by Gustave Eiffel, the builder of the Eiffel tower.