An 18th-century country house of 600 m², with natural swimming pool, park and 19-hectare olive-growing estate, 15 minutes from Avignon TGV station.
South of Avignon, at the gateway to the Camargue and 50 minutes from the sea, stretching along the banks of the Rhône, this legendary estate has earned a reputation for olive-growing excellence thanks to its orchard of around 9,000 olive trees.
Between the Alpilles Regional Nature Park and the Montagnette massif, near the towns of Boulbon and Tarascon, around twenty kilometres from both Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Les Baux-de-Provence, and equidistant from the former residences of Frédéric Mistral and Alphonse Daudet, two poets writing in the langue d'oc, the language of the troubadours of eternal Provence, a region perfectly epitomised by this "bastide".
Shops, primary and secondary schools as well as all amenities are less than 2 km away.
50 minutes from Marseille and Montpellier and their international airports, 40 minutes from Nîmes, 20 minutes from Arles and 15 minutes from Avignon.
This is a bastide with a history that is not easily unveiled.
Its Provence name, which means "to preserve and respect", may well refer to a Masonic practice that existed in 18th-century lodges but has since disappeared. And it was precisely at this time that the bastide was built, probably on top of pre-existing medieval foundations.
A symbol in the centre of the park's majestic wrought-iron entrance gate adds to the mystery: a hexagram, or 'Star of David', suggests that the estate may have belonged to a Jewish banker in the service of the Avignon papacy.
However, there are no official records to support this hypothesis, which has become a local legend. It should be remembered that the hexagram is a decorative figure found in Christian, Hindu, Japanese and pre-Islamic Arab architectural symbolism; the six branches of the star representing the six days of work, with the seventh day, the day of rest, in the hollowed-out centre of the geometry.
The residence, surrounded by around 4 hectares of wooded parklands, is situated at the south-east end of a 15-hectare olive grove, criss-crossed by chequered tracks. Some of the earth paths run alongside one of the high dykes protecting the property from the Rhone River, which provides the entire estate with a much-envied wealth of silt and a constant supply of water.
The bastide, at once an aristocratic residence and a farmhouse, displays all the distinctive features of its particular architectural style. As the construction of such a complex always takes time, the square, affluent 18th-century buildings were extended at the beginning of the 19th century by two lower adjoining buildings.
Not far away, a single-storey outbuilding dating from the late 19th century, used as a caretaker's lodge, ensures from a distance that the peace and quiet of the bastide, a true "manor house" surrounded by its estate, is preserved.
The bastideLike all country houses of this kind, this one was built near a water feature and on a hill, in a prominent position overlooking the surrounding plain. An ochre-coloured rendering conceals its regular stonework, an aspect that the people of Provence did not want to show, considering it a sign of poverty.
The three-storey building faces a vast, shaded esplanade and is accessed by both an internal staircase and two flights of external approach stairs of grey Barbentane stone leading up to the front perron with its balustrade and the entrance door. The wooden front door features small 18th-century glass panes and is protected by two studded shutters.
On the first floor, the symmetrical facade features two groups of three tall windows with shutters, framing the central entrance door on either side. The seven smaller openings on the second floor are more like those of a farmhouse.
Finally, the roof, clad ...
