In the summer of 1912, Grand Duke Andrei fell ill with bronchitis. Fearing the onset of tuberculosis, he was sent to recuperate in the Crimea, staying in a palace owned by his cousin Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich. His convalesce was long and he went to Saint-Maurice, Switzerland and to the South of France to recuperate. He liked the French Riviera in particular and in the spring of 1913, he bought a property for Mathilde in Cap-d'Ail. The villa, located on the edge of a mountain looking the sea, was named Alam, Mathilde's nickname, Mala, spelled backwards. Upon his return to Russia, Andrei Vladimirovich took part in the 300th anniversary celebrations of the Romanov dynasty. Villa Alam was completely remodeled and Andrei and Mathilde returned there in the spring of 1914, hoping to stay there every spring. However, they were able to return only six years later, after the war, having survived the Russian revolution.