Provençal House near Mazan and Mount Ventoux

The house was renovated to suit our requirements when we retired to France in 2000. The original bastide structure was constructed in 1970 and consists of steel reinforced concrete walls (30 cm thick, not the ususal 10 cm), and steel reinforced floors. The building is very solid.

The renovation included installation all new plumbing, all new electrical circuits, all new central heating (gas fired circulating water) all new double glazed windows, veranda doors, and the main entrace door. Fiber glass insulation, 10 cm thick, was installed on all walls and the upstairs ceilings. The kitchen was completely redone with all new oak cabinets, a gas stove, and comes with refrigerator, a built in dishwasher-dryer, and microwave oven.

TV and telephone outlets are distributed throughout the house. Most European electrical devices use 220 volt 50-60 cycle, but the kitchen has outlets for 2kw of 110 volt power that will operate specialized kitchen devices brought in from the US.

The original house was a bastide with two floors. Julie and I redesigned the interior such that the ground floor was for visiting family, and guests. The upstairs was designed as an apartment for my wife and me, that could be separated from the guest facilities. The ground floor consists of 2 guest bedrooms, with an attached bathroom, an office with ADSL lines for computers, a large salon, and a laundry room and pantry. The large salon opens on to a covered veranda, ideal for BBQ lunches. Along one wall, the Salon has the original stove and sink facilities, that could be made operational if it was decided to use the lower floor for vacation rentals.

The second floor consists of a large open salon (with fireplace), which opens on to a shaded terrace (for evening drinks and eating) with a spectacular view of Mount Ventoux. The second floor Salon adjoins an open dining room, which in turn opens on to a modern kitchen with oak cabinets, and counter tops matching the ceramic floor tiles. Beamed ceilings and ceramic tiled floors are evident throughout the salon,dining room and kitchen areas.

The second floor also contains a master bedroom with fully insulated walls and ceilings, and an adjoining large modern full bathroom, large corner bath tub, and a separate built-in tiled shower. With the on demand gas fired hot water system, you can lounge in the shower for a half hour or more, and not run out of hot water (Ah heaven). The walls of the bathroom are completely tiled with a soft brown ceramics.

All floors, on both levels, are completely tiled, in pleasant designs, with stain resistant ceramic floor tiles designed for high traffic. Every room has a large double glazed window, with Oak stained shutters, and drapes that stay with the house when sold.

The large garden has a fully automatic watering system, with water supplied from the local agricultural canal system. The Garden has seven cherry trees, two apricots, three pears, three plums, a vegetable garden, five olive trees, a very large figue tree, and several pecan trees. Yes, pecan trees - brought in from Texas.
In addition there are many Oak trees, several species of very large Pine and Cedar trees.

The house is situated in a quiet residential area called the Garrigue, about 2 km from the village of Mazan. Nearby cities include Carpentras, Avignon, Aix en Provence, Ilse sur Sorgues, Vaison-Romain, and Orange -- all within an hour or less. Marseille, and the MRS airport, are a little over an hour away. The airport has both Air France and other Airline services, as well as inexpensive Ryan Air. The TGV connects CDG airport, or the Gare de Lyon, in Paris, to Avignon, with a comfortable ride of less than 3 hours.