From the summer of 1954 onward, with Antony aged eight, the Baekeland family led a nomadic seasonal existence, maintaining their home in New York while being mainly based in Europe. Renting houses and villas in London, Paris, Zermatt, Cap d'Antibes, and many parts of Italy, Barbara and Brooks continued to live extravagantly, entertain guests, and have affairs. From 1960 onward, the family's main base was an apartment in Paris, where during one party, Brooks met an English diplomat's daughter who was 15 years his junior. After Brooks requested a divorce and Barbara subsequently tried to commit suicide, Brooks terminated the affair.