When the Dior family bought the Les Rhumbs villa, the bare land overlooked Plat-Gousset Beach from the top of a cliff. It faces the Channel Islands of Jersey and is swept by the winds of the English Channel. Madeleine Dior, the mother of the couturier, created a luxuriant garden on the estate. She brought tons of fertile Normandy soil and persisted in planting oaks, pines, and hedges to protect her flowers from the wind. The scents of roses, jasmine, and lily of the valley shaped the tastes of the future couturier.