Once built, the house was transformed over the centuries. Yet it still bears witness to its medieval origins. Its first wing, which dates back to the 15th century, once housed a ground-floor stable with a hayloft and a dwelling for grooms. Then, in the 18th century, a townhouse was built here for a notary, Mr. Fabre, mentioned as early as in 1754. It witnessed the town’s golden era, when Beaucaire Fair, a trade hub given certain privileges by King Louis XIV of France, was thriving and drew merchants from all across the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe. At this unique fair, silks, fabrics, wines, spices and other colonial products were traded. Made wealthy by this roaring trade, prominent citizens and merchants would build or extend sumptuous townhouses here. This fine dwelling is an example of one of them. In 1793, Napoleon Bonaparte, a young officer then, also walked down these cobbled streets and famously had supper in Beaucaire while engaging in a conversation that later proved decisive in his career and in the events that followed the French Revolution. The house, with its high-walled court, ashlar facade, ornamented lounges and noble materials, still reflects the splendour of its time. In the 1950s, a wing linking the buildings was added but did not betray the place’s true soul. Since then, the house’s various occupants – architects, interior designers and lovers of built heritage – have made sure this historical home has kept its unique character and dazzling spirit. A painted wooden gate, fitted in a stone wall that gives the place its privacy, leads into the property and includes an integrated pedestrian door. This gate is framed in dressed stone with mouldings and is crowned with a classic lintel and an entablature supported by thin, sculpted modillions – a detail that is characteristic of 18th-century noble architecture. It leads into a courtyard, around which the house stands. The ground floor has a lounge, a kitchen, a bedroom with a shower room, a lavatory and a hallway. The first floor has a second lounge, a lavatory and two bedrooms that each have their own shower room. A terrace completes the home.

The house

The house has a ground floor and a first floor. It is crowned with a roof of barrel tiles. Its facade is coated with ochre-toned rendering. Tall, small-paned windows and glazed doors in painted wooden frames are fitted with pale-green shutters that go well with the place’s spirit. Natural light floods into the different rooms as these windows face north, but light also comes in through broad, grey, metal-framed French windows that face west and harmoniously give the place’s old heritage a modern touch. Upstairs, a raised terrace fits in between the different rooms, looking down at the court and naturally extending the rooms for everyday living.

The ground floor
Beneath whitened ceiling beams, the kitchen, which is the heart of the home, has a floor of large, old terracotta tiles, work surfaces of white tiles and walls painted pale blue. The room is bathed in natural light from broad, metal-framed French windows, which bring out its spaciousness. From here, a hallway with a floor of old cement tiles leads to a lavatory, a staircase and a lounge. The lounge leads out to the courtyard via tall French windows. It is well proportioned and it has a rare kind of 19th-century floor that combines terrazzo with polychromatic squares. It also has toile de Jouy wallpaper with Orientalist motifs and a marble fireplace. From the kitchen, you can also reach the ground-floor bedroom. It has exposed beams and a floor of Beaucaire stone with a patina of age. It leads out to the courtyard and has a shower room and a storage space. Lastly, a travertine staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade and light-green lime-coated walls leads up to the terrace and first floor.

The upstairs
There is a second lounge on the first floor. It has the same proportions as the reception room below it and it looks down at the court through three tall windows. Its floor of cement tiles, which dates back to the 19th century, has a patina of age. The lime-coated walls are rose in colour and the window frames are of a tasteful green hue. A central fireplace of grey marble stands between built-in cupboards. This room could easily be turned into a fourth bedroom with an adjoining bathroom, given that the water inlets are still in place. The landing connects to a lavatory and then to a second bedroom that is remarkably spacious and high-ceilinged. This bedroom is bathed in an abundance of natural light from a roof window, a tall window and a glazed door that leads out to the terrace. Its pale-blue walls, its terracotta floor and its bookshelves covering the whole of one wall form a delightful decor. The bedroom also has its own shower room and a mezzanine that you can reach via a plain wooden staircase. Lastly, from the terrace, you can reach a third bedroom, which has a two-slope ceiling. It combines a smooth concrete floor with natural-toned walls. It is a triple-aspect space, so it is constantly bathed in natural light. It also has its own shower room and lavatory, making it self-contained.