The first traditional Provençal house

The country lane leaves the forest and leads to the first Provençal house, which offers a floor area of around 167m². It then leads to a small house 300 metres further on. The house stands beside the forest and vineyards. It is tucked away in unspoilt countryside and looks down at a little stream. The house is divided into two apartments that offer floor areas of 83m² and 84m² respectively and each have two bedrooms. These apartments are currently rented out. A set-back portion of the walls ensures privacy for each set of tenants, who are therefore undisturbed by one another. When the property is sold, the apartments will be vacated as soon as possible, unless the buyer wishes to enjoy immediate income by keeping the current tenants in the apartments. The walls are punctuated with windows and doors. Glazed doors leading outside are set in gently arched openings. The small, rectangular windows are typical of old, traditional Provençal houses. A smooth rendering coats the walls, but a south-facing glazed door that leads outside is set in a surround of exposed stone – a token of the original walls.

The eastern section of the first traditional Provençal house

In the east apartment, the floors are adorned with terracotta square tiles. On the ground floor, a glazed door takes you into a fitted kitchen from outside. Salernes tiles adorn the kitchen’s work surface. The room connects to a shower room with a lavatory and to a bedroom, which leads straight out into a gravel court edged with a low stone wall and wooden fencing. This space forms a little garden where a mulberry tree grows. A large garage stands on the house’s north side. From the kitchen, a staircase of terracotta tiles leads upstairs to a generously sized lounge. Exposed beams run across its two-slope ceiling. The room features a dark-grey marble fireplace adorned with small columns. The lounge lets in natural light from the east and south. It connects to a lavatory and to a large bedroom with the same ceiling height as the lounge. The view outside is remarkable: vineyards, olive trees and cypresses recall northern Italy.

The western section of the first traditional Provençal house

You enter the west apartment at the ground level on the house’s western side and step into a bright kitchen. The kitchen’s work surface is adorned with dark-red tiles. A large north-facing window offers a view of the forest. The room connects to a lounge via two arched passages that frame a fireplace with an insert. A glazed door leads outside on the south side and a west-facing window looks out at the oaks. A staircase of terracotta tiles takes you upstairs. Up here, the floors are also adorned with small red terracotta tiles. The landing connects to two bedrooms. On this floor, there is also a bathroom and a shower room with a lavatory. The latter’s shower cubicle has been turned into a cupboard.

The second traditional Provençal house

The main driveway leads to the second house, which offers a floor area of around 138m². Exposed stonework forms its walls and a génoise cornice underlines its roof. The driveway, a cul-de-sac, then carries on, ending at the foot of the third house, which lies 100 metres further on. The slope of the land makes it possible to walk straight out into the garden from both floors of the house. The doors that lead outside are all glazed, bringing much natural light inside the house. You can get around the house very smoothly thanks to the number of these glazed outer doors and their positions.

A pergola edged with a low stone wall adjoins the south-facing wall. It stands upon a stone-floored terrace. Jasmine and vines climb up and around this pergola. From here, you can admire a pleasant view of the surrounding vineyards and olive trees. Four steps lead to a generously sized kitchen. Exposed beams run across its two-slope ceiling. Green tiles adorn its work surface. On the east side, a window looks out over the swimming pool, olive trees and forest. On the north side, a bedroom connects to a shower room with a lavatory and a washbasin surrounded by Salernes tiles of different ochre tones. Two steps lead down to a lounge with a fireplace, plastered beams and a glazed door that takes you outside beneath the pergola. Two other windows bring natural light into this lounge. The internal doors at this level are very old.

From the kitchen, a staircase of terracotta tiles with wooden nosing and a wrought-iron handrail leads down to the lower level where the floor is adorned with large terracotta tiles. This lower space is divided into a hallway with spacious cupboards, three bedrooms, two of which lead outside, a utility and boiler room, and a bathroom with a lavatory and two washbasins.

On the east side of the garden, there is a swimming pool with low stone walls. The pool is 11.5 metres long and 4.5 metres wide. A well and terraces of olive trees lie beside it. Cypresses, mulberry trees and a medlar stand around the house. On the north side, there are two garages, which are extended with a concrete-floored shelter. They lie near a pétanque court. Agricultural material, which can also be acquired, can be stored in these spaces.

The third traditional Provençal house

The third house stands in a commanding position on the estate’s highest area of land. It has a floor area of around 149m². It offers a spectacular vista of the surrounding hills to the west and of the slope on the other side of the stream to the north. The house has two floors, like the second dwelling. From both floors of the house, you can walk straight out into the garden through doors that lead outside. Exposed stonework forms the walls. The gable roof is underlined with a génoise cornice.

The entrance hall is on the ground floor on the north side. You enter it via a door that is glazed like the other ones, which fill the interior with natural light and lead out into the garden. The entrance hall connects to a lavatory with a washbasin. Straight ahead from this hallway, there are the kitchen’s two glazed doors and, through them, you can see a well in the garden on the south side. One particularity of this kitchen is its large serving hatch that opens into the lounge. Like in the entrance hall, the floor is adorned with ochre tiling. Cement tiles also embellish it, beneath a table. The internal doors at this level are very old. On the south side, a cellar dug into the terrace serves as a scullery. On the west side, there is a large lounge with a dining area. It has a stone fireplace. You can look out at the olive trees from this triple-aspect room that gazes south, north and west. Rectangular terracotta tiles adorn the floors. They are laid in geometric patterns. Two glazed doors lead outside, to a stone-floored terrace beneath a pergola on the south side and to a raised swimming pool with low stone walls and a stone poolside area on the west side. The pool is 11.5 metres long and 4.5 metres wide. Beneath the swimming pool, there is a technical equipment room and a storage space.

From the entrance hall, a staircase of hexagonal terracotta tiles with a wrought-iron handrail leads upstairs. Small terracotta tiles cover all the floors of this upper level. At the top of the stairs, a door takes you outside to the driveway. And inside, a corridor connects to a bathroom, a shower room with a lavatory and washing machine, and three bedrooms, one of which leads out to the garden via a door and steps.

The grounds

The grounds are hilly and partly covered with vineyards, a 1.14-hectare area of which is rented out for tenant farming up to 27 February – it produced 10 tonnes of grapes this year. The grounds also include around 500 olive trees, which produce 100 to 300 litres of olive oil per year. A forest covers the rest of the grounds. The vineyards mostly lie in the middle of the area where the three Provençal houses stand. The vines are around 17 years old. Olive trees grow beside them. Walking trails snake through the forest, inviting you to stroll further afield and enjoy endless treks in this natural backdrop.