Beaucaire’s historic centre, designed with rectilinear streets like its medieval neighbour Aigues-Mortes, was once a military city. One of the few Provencal towns without protective outer ramparts, Beaucaire is structured around its main road and the quay of the Rhône-Sète canal – used as a home port for many boats – which play a key role in the town’s undeniable character and charm. These two major east-west routes, which spread out from the base of the chateau, are traversed by a number of north-south roads that eventually meet up with the aforementioned quay.
Completely hidden and set back from the street, the house, built at the end of the 16th century, has two storeys over its garden level and is located on one of the town’s latitudinal streets, thereby sheltering it from the Mistral wind and other inclement weather. The only element visible from the street is a large carriage door surrounded by smooth rusticated stonework from the Fontvieille quarries and topped with an understated entablature. With a truncated corner indicating its former utilitarian usage, this entrance was once intended for the passage of tall and heavy loads, while its two vertical wooden leaves, painted grey and studded at eye level, are devoid of any kind of decoration, once again underlining the former functional purpose of the premises.
The property’s gate opens directly onto a courtyard, today transformed into a pleasant garden, which separates the house from the quiet street. In the Middle Ages, the property was undoubtedly the warehouse of a rich merchant from the famous local fair or the lord who owned the neighbouring house, Jean-Joseph Escudier de Beaulieu, an advisor to the King, Presiding Judge of Farms and the Lieutenant of Ports during the siege of Beaucaire. However, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that the warehouse on the courtyard level was turned into a dwelling, while several earlier modifications, still visible upstairs, allows one to surmise that the domestic staff of the aforementioned lord once occupied the level above the medieval warehouse.

The House

With views of the verdant courtyard thanks to a large arched picture window accentuated by a decidedly contemporary black metal framework, the house has fully taken on the appearance of an elegant urban dwelling and no longer gives any indication of its former use as a warehouse.
Here, each stone is both a testimony and a memory: its façade made out of stone from the Fontvieille quarries, carefully restored, has preserved several unique architectural details, while an old, bricked up door on the first floor, a vestige of a past modification, and the marks of a cross window, now gone, recount the building’s evolution and provide it with a touch of mystery. In addition, the exterior stone staircase, rather rustic in appearance, provides a direct and independent access to the first floor from the courtyard, where the main living spaces are located.

The ground floor
The front glass double doors open onto a fitted kitchen, perfectly integrated within its historic environment, while the large arched picture window illuminates the entire interior and provides a direct view of the courtyard, establishing a fluid dialogue between the inside and the outside. In the middle of the room, abutting the southern wall, is a functional stone fireplace in perfect condition, whereas, towards the back and adjacent to the western wall, a sleek polished concrete staircase, without a guardrail, leads to the living room on the first floor. Not far from the staircase, a large trapdoor, discreetly integrated within the floor, conceals a vaulted medieval cellar with the same floor area as the kitchen, as well as irregular stone masonry walls and a beaten earth floor.
The first floor
Accented by the vestiges of a window with 16th-century ornamentation, the top of the staircase leads to the dual-aspect living room with celadon green walls, which stands out from the rest of the house’s rooms thanks to a massive stone fireplace. As for its exposed ceiling beams, painted white, they bear witness to local traditional savoir-faire, while the polished concrete floor provides a contemporary touch to the entre space. In addition, this room has access to both the exterior staircase that leads to the courtyard and an interior stone staircase, which provides access to the house’s only bedroom, located upstairs under the eaves. Lastly, in a discreet corner of the room, a shower room was created with a practical layout and fits in perfectly with the rest of the space.
The second floor
The bedroom is accessible via a low, 1.3-metre high door. Bathed in light by two windows, the same size as the door, the former add character to the room and nicely frame the views of the outside. Once across the threshold, the room, with walls painted a soft grey-blue, has a comfortable floor-to-ceiling height, while behind the bed, there is a cleverly designed and perfectly integrated shower room, lavatory and a storage area, which succeeds in conserving both the room’s elegance and functionality.