Originally an old tenant farm, Mas Boun Aou (Good People's Farmhouse) was transformed in the first half of the 20th century by a local notable into a country residence and then into an artist's house. A painter lived and worked here until the end of the last century, contemplating the surrounding landscape. Later, many artists stayed here, away from the fury of the world. Boun Aou thus bears the traces of these successive sojourns which had in common the search for solitude.
The elegant elevation on the garden side, built in cyclopean masonry, with rough-cut stones bonded in white mortar, bears the date 1875. Facing south/south-east, the house features high windows and large glass doors. This is very unusual in Provençal architecture, which normally favours small openings that provide better protection from the heat.
Above the door frames feature probable traces of the period when a local notable lived here, as if to confirm the nobility of this rural farmhouse: sculpted ornaments decorated with a mascaron, a basket of plenty, and an antique head. A sundial punctuates the corner of the south-east wall. A large unfinished hayloft adjoining the main building opens onto the countryside through a carriage entrance, further evidence of the building's rural past.
The interior of the farmhouse, very rustic, with its Ardèche chestnut beams bearing the branding marks from being floated down the Rhône, preserves the quaint atmosphere of the country houses of yesteryear. The stone walls, often unplastered, in the same type of cyclopean masonry as the exterior, feature small recesses intended to house votive statuettes. Each window and door opens onto a garden of biblical species: pomegranate, olive, cypress, fig and myrtle trees. Clearings between the discreetly sculpted foliage allow panoramic views of the Virgilian landscapes of the Montagnette, south of the Alpilles.

The farmhouse

With a surface area of 180 m² living space and 120 m² with potential for conversion, it faces south. The main facade has two storeys. Windows flanked by shutters lend a symmetrical structure to the building. On the ground floor, the small-paned windows on either side of the entrance door contribute greatly to its elegance. On the first floor, to the south, there are again two identical symmetrical windows with shutters. To the east, two monolithic arched windows open onto the medieval castle and the village. The second floor forms a rustic attic with roof space, it has been converted into a very bohemian artist's studio. A large, unfinished, semi-detached barn with its typical rural structure opens onto both the courtyard and the fields.

Ground floor
The rustic appearance of the interior contrasts sharply with the elegance of the façade and bears witness to the rural past of the place. To the south, the solid carved oak entrance door opens into a large hallway, which leads to the kitchen, scullery and storeroom, all located on the right-hand side. The kitchen opens onto the garden through an east-facing French window, offering the panoramic view of the Montagnette. The sitting room features two cyclopean walls and can be accessed via five turning steps to the left of the entrance, further stairs then continue straight on to the upper floors. To the west, separate from the farmhouse, the hayloft used as a garage offers multiple possibilities for development.
First floor
The staircase, made of Barbentane stone, with walls rendered in a bright white rough plaster, leads to a corridor serving two bedrooms and a shower room. The first bedroom opens to the east, with a view of the Château de Boulbon; the second, to the south, is pleasantly protected by the shade of the plane tree. An attic converted into a dormitory with an imposing roof structure holds a large family wardrobe. Next to the attic, a hideaway for the unrepentant loner is nestled in the roof with a Roman terrace opening to the south-west, just above the barnyard.
Second floor
The staircase leads up to what is actually a subdivision of the attic where a large artist's studio has been installed. Facing south, it opens onto a view of the surrounding countryside. The room was probably intended to serve as a last refuge for the farmers of the 19th century, when they had to face the terrible floods of the Rhone, which have since been reduced thanks to major civil engineering works carried out at the end of the 20th century.