A classical villa and garden on a 1,400m² plot with a swimming pool,
two minutes from Vidauban town centre in south-east France
two minutes from Vidauban town centre in south-east France
Vidauban,
VAR
provence-cote-dazur
83550
FR
Location
The town of Vidauban has around 10,000 inhabitants and lies in France’s Var department – the lushest department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is nestled among vineyards in the River Agens valley, by the foothills of the Massif des Maures mountain range. The town’s name comes from the word ‘vidalban’, which originally meant ‘the white vine’. Vidauban is a highly attractive location. Indeed, here you can enjoy wine-tasting sessions in cellars, take a canoe down the river to discover the local flora and fauna, go fishing, visit cultural sites, go on long hikes through the beautiful surroundings, and quickly reach the Mediterranean Sea. Vidauban is 1 hour and 10 minutes from Marseille airport, 55 minutes from Toulon-Hyères airport, 20 minutes from the Les Arcs Draguignan high-speed train station, only 5 minutes from the A8 motorway, and just 30 minutes from the sparkling Mediterranean Sea.
Description
A large gate framed between two imposing columns marks the property’s northern entrance. The property is entirely enclosed with walls. There is a secondary entrance that leads in from a neighbouring road on the east side. Beneath a shelter, there are three parking spaces. The north-facing facade is rendered and pale. A plain stringcourse separates the ground floor from the first floor. This facade is punctuated with six rectangular windows in white stone surrounds with finely sculpted lintels. A symmetrical pair of stone steps in straight flights leads up to the main entrance door, which stands beneath a small balcony with corbels of lion heads. The roof terrace is edged with well-proportioned balusters. A statue of a thinker features in the middle of these balusters. A hipped roof of barrel tiles crowns the roof terrace and house, giving the edifice a unique appearance. The south-facing elevation has similar architecture, but is less elaborate, with plain window surrounds and a central balcony that hangs over the southern entrance door and is edged with a wrought-iron guardrail. This elevation also features a symmetrical pair of stone steps in straight flights leading up to an entrance door. These flights of steps are edged with an openwork balustrade and the balcony at the top of them is edged with stone balusters. You enter the garden-level floor, where the apartment lies, via the east side or beneath the steps of the south-facing elevation. A swimming pool and a covered terrace lie at one side, in the garden’s western area. Lastly, an annexe that could serve as a workshop stands to the right of the gate when you enter the property.
The house
The ground floor
The main entrance is on the south side. You step into a hallway that connects to a lounge, a kitchen, a lavatory and a utility room. From this hall, a staircase leads upstairs. The lounge, dining area and kitchen form a single L-shaped room. The ceiling height creates generous spaces that have subtly integrated touches of modern comfort, including air conditioning and underfloor heating. The warm atmosphere here is underlined with tiling that imitates oak chevron parquet and with a solid door with mouldings that probably dates back to the time of construction and forms an entrance. The extensive room is bathed in natural light from three windows.
The upstairs
A staircase with timber steps and a plain wrought-iron balustrade leads up to a landing that connects to two northern bedrooms, a southern bedroom and a bathroom with a lavatory. The flooring is the same as that on the ground floor. The three bedrooms share the bathroom. An abundance of natural light floods this first floor as the windows are arranged in the same way as on the ground floor.
The terrace
A spiral staircase with wooden nosing leads up to a hexagonal pavilion that takes you out onto an open-sided roof terrace. This splendid space, which is not designed to be lived in, extends above the whole house. A hipped roof crowns it. Its impressive old timber frame can be seen. The floor is covered with terracotta tiles. From this roof terrace, you can admire a clear view of hills to the north.
The apartment
You reach the apartment via a separate entrance on the west side. It lies at the garden level. This apartment includes an open-plan kitchen, two bedrooms, a shower room and a lavatory.
The garden
The garden is entirely walled. The plot covers 1,400m². Two age-old magnolias tower majestically, framing the house. The garden is dotted with other trees and shrubs, including palms, oleanders and banana trees. Broad gravel paths lead to the southern entrance and to a swimming pool that lies south-west of the villa. This pool is L-shaped. Thick stone tiles form its poolside area, beside which there is a covered terrace with a gabled roof of barrel tiles supported by six solid pillars. A workshop with a floor area of around 20m² is built against one of the enclosing walls. Gardening tools can be stored in this annexe. A stone fountain lies below the front steps on the north side. It is surrounded by climbing vegetation that has been arranged symmetrically. This fountain and vegetation embellish the entrance.
Our opinion
This tall, elegant dwelling has been fully renovated to offer remarkable comfort. The walled garden underlines the villa’s cosiness. The interior is easy to live in: it is bathed in natural light with high-quality fittings and pale walls and floors. Though you can hear a little road traffic from the garden, as you can in many urban properties, the enclosing wall reduces unwanted noise considerably to create a truly private space here. This unique villa would be the perfect place for a professional practice, which could easily be based in the garden-level apartment. Yet the property offers a true range of other exciting possibilities too.
596 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 267991
| Land registry surface area | 1409 m2 |
| Main building surface area | 162 m2 |
| Number of bedrooms | 5 |
| Outbuilding surface area | 20 m2 |
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NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.
