Carefully restored Authentic Provencal Mas

• rare property in the Camargue National park
• Sympathetically restored
• Main house and Studio either side of courtyard
• Pool in courtyard
• 8 km from Arles - 25 mins from Med

• Bedrooms: 4
• Village
• Swimming pool

• Condition - Restored / Habitable
• Roof - Good Condition
• Drainage - Mains
• Water - Mains
• Heating - Electric
• Electricity - Mains

The house, an ancient Provencal Mas or farmhouse, stands in the heart of a tiny village in the Camargue, built by the Knights Templar in the 13th Century. The Camargue National Park is the delta of the Rhone stretching to the sandy beaches of the Med and is famous for its wildlife, white horses and black bulls, huge skies and unspoilt wetland. It is a haunting mixture of farmland, shallow lakes and reeds. Along the river, silver- trunked birch trees and pink-blossomed tamarisk compete with the pink flamingos trawling for food in the etangs. This is old Provence.
The property, probably built a couple of hundred years ago on much older foundations, consists of two buildings, one either side of a sunny, sheltered courtyard containing a swimming pool. The main house consists of:- An impressive living room app 27ft X 16ft)( 8.2x4.9m) with original, huge beams; original 7 ft (2.1m) wide fireplace with, traditional but now rare, cupboard on one side and potager the other. At one end of the room is a library and a door opens out on to the courtyard. There is a small convenient office with built-in desk and shelving sufficient for files. At present we have very satisfactory internet access by satellite. There is a modem giving WiFi access throughout the house and Mazet and also cabled access to the Mazet. At one end of the office is a large storage cupboard and at the other end a door opens into a cloakroom with toilet and washbasin. The end of the cloakroom opens on to the courtyard giving access to toilet/changing facilities from the pool area. On the opposite side of the salon rises the original wood staircase, polished by long use. A door leads to the kitchen/dining room. ( app 27ft x 11ft )(8.2x3.4m).The fitted kitchen has a large, marble-topped island with shelves and space for a fridge. There is electrical supply for the fridge and extra sockets for other equipment. The other work surfaces are tiled with handmade tiles and there are many sockets. We use a cooker with gas hobs ( bottled gas) and two ovens, gas and electric. At the other end of the room is a dining area which will seat 8-10 people. From the kitchen a door leads to the laundry which, apart from adequate sockets for a washing machine , tumbler dryer etc has fitted storage cupboards for vacuum, cleaning materials and general items. There is a Belfast sink. Lighting is automatic (as it is in the Remise – see next) so that one can enter and leave without having to find a switch. There is a door from the laundry leading to the remise ( the French word for a large outbuilding for farming machinery, usually connected to the living quarters). The remise is used as a garage/ workshop of about 27ft x 13 ft(8.2x4m). In the floor is a wine cellar – it is dusty but clean and dry and maintains an almost constant temperature. The laundry was built into the remise and the whole area above the laundry is used for storage. The remise goes, with very little obstruction, all the way up to the roof ( about 25 feet – 8 metres) and could probably be used to make several extra rooms with considerable character. There is a fitted workbench and masses of storage space. Huge, ancient double doors lead into the courtyard.
FIRST FLOOR The very old and slightly irregular stairs in the salon lead up to a small landing. A door to the right on the landing leads down into the master bedroom ( approx 12ft x 14ft 6”)(3.7x4.4m). The master bedroom is light and airy and faces West, having French windows opening on to a tiny balcony overlooking the courtyard and pool. The ceiling has exposed beams. The en suite bathroom ( app 11ft x 7ft)(3.4x2.1m) has a shower over a large bath, washbasin and toilet. There is also a walk-in wardrobe ( app 11ft x 5 ft)(3.4x1.5m) with extensive hanging and storage space. There are two other bedrooms off the landing:- Back bedroom ( app 16ft 6” x 10 ft)(5x3m) - a double bedroom with a small shower room (5ft x 5ft app)(1.5x1.5m) which has a shower, washbasin and toilet. Despite the size, this is an effective shower room. Large exposed beams. There is also a built-in cupboard with hanging and storage space. Front bedroom (App 11ftx 13ft)(3.4x4m) also with a small shower room ( app 6ft x 5 ft)(1.8x1.5m) with shower, washbasin and toilet. There is a built-in cupboard. Exposed beams. The courtyard is a rather distorted rectangular shape and, apart from the gravelled driveway leading to the remise, is paved with pale local limestone. Roughly in the middle of the paved part of the courtyard is a swimming pool about 23 x 10 ft(6.35x3.3m) and 4ft 6 inches (1.4m) deep depending on the water depth . The pool temperature is commonly in the upper 20’s C in late May and we keep it down to about 30C until the end of the season – often well into September. The courtyard is very sheltered from the wind and very sunny and is gloriously hot in the summer and we can commonly cook and eat outside from late March to late October. This area is large enough for a table for eight people in comfort with space to spare. There is a barbecue built of the local stone at the upper end of the courtyard. The gravelled driveway, as well as the paved courtyard, provides a significant area for sunbathing etc.. The courtyard is closed from the road by high, solid gates for privacy. There is automatic watering all round the courtyard and a woodstore for about 4 cubic metres of wood. The courtyard presently has a large number of plant pots and plants varying from small herbs to large decorative climbers and a lemon tree by the kitchen door. On the other side of the courtyard is the Mazet (This is literally a little Mas and we call it this for some reason although, for more than a century, it was the village forge.)The open porch of the Mazet, where the horses were tethered to be shod, is paved in local stone and the side adjacent to the pool constitutes the filter-house. From the porch a door leads directly into the mazet kitchen. The fitted kitchen is a little over 8 ft square (2.4x2.4m) and has good cupboard space, fridge and gas hob. The colour scheme, as in the main kitchen, is Provencale. The ceiling has exposed beams as has all the rest of the mazet. There is a shower room with a large shower, washbasin and toilet. Through the kitchen is the bedroom/living room (App 18ft x 13ft)(5.5x4m) this has a tiled floor and is presently equipped with a large double bed , table and chairs and a wardrobe. There are also bookshelves and a chest of drawers – one imagines this could be let out individually. The room looks out on to the swimming pool.
Heating – the house is heated by electric radiators and the huge open fireplace which is very effective and can heat the whole house. We have used this house as a true second home for over 17 years and have never been cold. ( This is of course subjective!) A recent survey showed the house to have good thermal efficiency. Water heating – there are three highly efficient electric water heaters, two in the main house and one in the Mazet. In the main house, the heater in the laundry heats the water for the laundry, the kitchen and the master bathroom. This is arranged so that the number of heaters in use at any time depends on the parts of the house in use. Mains sewage.
LOCATION, ACCESS, PLACES OF INTEREST ETC ETC. The house is about 10 mins from the wonderful Roman town of Arles and about 30 mins from Nimes which also has many major ancient monuments. St Gilles – 5 mins away, across the Petit Rhone, in the Gard, is a small, lively town with all the usual shops including DIY etc. Also about 30 mins away, across the Camargue, on the coast, is the tiny fascinating town of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer – where there are excellent beaches and a very ancient fortified church. Montpellier , a dramatic ancient/modern city is about 40 mins away. Avignon easily accessible also. The main motorway ,giving access to the whole of Europe , is about 15 mins away and allows a journey time of about 10 hrs from Calais by car. Spain is about three hours away, as is Italy. The TGV can be accessed from Arles or Nimes. The nearest airport is Nimes Garons, about 15 mins away where there are currently cheap flights to/from the UK . Cheap flights are also currently available from other major airports within easy reach such as Montpellier and Nice. BEACHES- The nearest beaches are at Les Saintes Maries de la Mer. Aquatic sports of all descriptions can be found at Les Saintes. SKIING There is accessible skiing by car towards the Pyrenees or Alps. Allow 3-4 hrs. HORSERIDING is available throughout the Camargue both as organised trekking across the Camargue or private excursions. NATURAL HISTORY The Camargue is famous for its natural history and information is available locally. Simply driving or cycling anywhere will be a revelation There are extensive, marked CYCLE TRACKS. JEEP OUTINGS to see the wildlife, mostly start in Les Saintes. RAMBLING Much of the Camargue is open to ramblers on obvious tracks. Farmland is private and the black bulls are dangerous. More ambitious rambling can be found in the Alpilles, beyond Arles or, alternatively, if you are much more ambitious, in the Cevennes – about an hour away. MARKETS Arles market is amazing. It is said to be the biggest market in France with about 1000 stands. ( Saturdays). Watch the world go by from the Malarte cafe – well placed in the middle of the market. MARKETS are also held on Wednesdays ( antiques, books etc.). In St Gilles there is a market on Thursdays and Sundays. Most other towns and villages also have markets and most will be worth visiting. There are Christmas markets in most significant towns. CULTURE Ancient sites range from the splendid 12th century church and remains in St Gilles, to the arenas and other Roman remains in Arles and Nimes and the Crusader fortress town of Aigues Mortes .There are really too many exciting sites within a thirty minute drive to make a list here. The OPERA FESTIVAL in Orange ( 40 mins away) is well worth going to – book ahead. There is also opera and theatre in Avignon ( 45 mins) and Montpellier. FESTIVALS Many of the villages , including ours, have Patronal festivals and these are advertised clearly. WINE Many of the local wines are very good, ranging from the characteristic whites, rose and gris, commonly grown on the sandy soil of the delta, to the heady reds of the hills before Nimes. For more expensive and well-known wines, a 30 mile trip to the region round Chateauneuf du Pape and Baumes de Venise will satisfy the most demanding palates.

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