Probably a former forester's house, the dwelling was built at the end of the 19th century on the edge of a municipal or state-owned forest to house a forest ranger and his family. This type of lodge was once owned by the state or the local authority, but they were then progressively sold to private owners throughout the 20th century. There was no precise architectural model for these constructions; their layouts varied according to the region in which they were located and the needs of their occupants.
The property is situated to the south of the village, on a hill predominantly planted with pine and oak trees.
A noble two-leaf wrought iron openwork gate in the arched shape of an eyebrow, supported by two stone pillars, provides access to the property, possibly a remnant of an entrance to a larger forest estate. A driveway crossing the pine forest from the north-east provides access to an area destined for parking cars.
Starting with a modest forester's house, the successive extensions have over time created a proper family home. Several parts of the building follow the sloping ground, so that there are two major differences in level within the dwelling. Set in the heart of 1.19 hectares of well-tended woodland, the main building is itself surrounded by vast terraces of stone from local quarries and a 5 x 7 m south-facing swimming pool. The house has been designed to let the light flood in throughout, providing the whole family with moments of relaxation and leisure in absolute tranquillity, only interrupted by the sound of birdsong. On the whole, everything in the house reflects the fact that here, as in most Provence houses, people lived outdoors most of the time. At once an open-air cabin and a warm refuge from the rigours of winter, the interior, with its many windows, successfully achieves the feat of being as bright as the exterior.

The house

Rectangular in shape, it has adapted to the natural slope of the terrain over the course of its gradual extension. The south-facing house has a large number of large, small-pane casement windows and French windows painted white, in an 18th-century style. As a traditional sign of welcome, three cypress trees rise up to the double cornice of shortened tiles surrounding the roof, topping a facade with a floated roughcast finish. A Virginia creeper, very well controlled despite its invasive attempts to take over, wraps the outside walls in a bountiful envelope that also proves to be a formidable ecological tool for keeping cool in summer. The double-layered wooden shutters, painted white, require renovation.
To the west of the property, abutting the house, there is a vast two-storey canopy used as a summer living area, which also provides shelter from the summer heat. It includes a bathhouse extending directly from the swimming pool, a large open-air lounge and an al fresco dining area.

The ground floor
From the south, a large small-paned French window provides access to a vast hallway that leads to all the rooms in the house. Opposite the entrance, two doors open onto two ground floor bedrooms with beamed ceilings, one of which has an en suite bathroom.
On one side of the hallway, there is a library/gallery, and on the other side a dining room, followed by a kitchen. This bright, white-tiled kitchen, with white-painted sloping ceiling, features several rectilinear openings to the north-east; a French window opens onto a stone-paved terrace protected by a pergola supporting a prolific wisteria. The 18th-century Carrara marble sink and the series of custom-made shelves and storage units have been designed with both the comfort of the lady of the house and her refined sense of aesthetics in mind.
Beyond the dining room with its fabric-covered walls, the succession of rooms reveals the library/gallery featuring warm, sober oak shelving and, at the end of this distant perspective, a sitting room below. Accessed via the oak staircase leading down from the library, the sitting room boasts an impressive fireplace and, here too, a vast opening onto the pine forest.
In the semi-circular mezzanine, which forms the library's gallery and houses the record collection, a back door provides access to a third bedroom. Just a few steps down, this bedroom comes with a surprisingly large salon-bathroom, complete with a fitted daybed, as was popular in the 19th century during the First Empire. The vast bathroom, with two bathtubs, features a white Carrara marble basin at floor level, inspired by antiquity.
The entire ground floor, with the exception of the kitchen, is laid with traditional hexagonal Provence quarry tiles, some of which are very old. The bedrooms all feature fleece-backed wall fabrics, with soundproof woollen carpets in excellent condition.
The upstairs
From the library, a staircase with a carved oak balustrade provides access to the second level. Here again, books line the walls right up to the landing. There are a bathroom and lavatories to the west. Two of the bedrooms face south and have quite high sloping ceilings with wooden beams and battens. Wall fabrics and seagrass carpets have been laid in the same spirit of comfort as on the ground floor.
The cellar
Accessed from outdoors, to the west of the property, a door opens onto a long pool equipment and technical room underneath the house. With a total floor area of around 40 m², it is also ideal for storing tools and garden furniture.