location: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France | design: David Price Design | interior design: Nina Laty for David Price Design | photography: Hervé Hôte
David Price Design is an award-winning architecture / design studio working out of two locations in the South of France. This recent project is for a French family who has owned this property for several generations and initially practised their trade there as parfumiers.
- Remodelled terrace facing south
The existing property consisted of a large farmhouse with outbuildings surrounded by 15 hectares of traditional landscaping. The refurbishment project saw the house both reconfigured and restored, with a new extension, kitchen and dining area, plus extra bedrooms and bathrooms. This has created an ideal retreat for family gatherings, as well as being a desirable vacation rental.
As the property had been in continual ownership for 75 years, the new scheme was all about the delicate balance of maintaining history in the form of family artefacts and inherited antique furniture, while incorporating splashes of colourful modernity.
- The new dining area (where the former kitchen was located) benefits from plenty of natural light. An existing timber ceiling was resanded and stained for a more uniform quality; with new furniture including an oak refectory table, chairs, a terracotta tiled floor and an existing Welsh dresser against one wall.
David Price recalls: ‘The grandfather of the current generation sought to make something a little grander out of his original purchase, creating a kind of manor house from what was essentially a typical Provençal farmhouse and installing imposing fireplaces and mullioned windows, as well as long external stone mouldings beneath the upper storey windows. Over time however, the interior had suffered to become rather dreary – with strange, disjoined circulation resulting from piecemeal alterations, including an unsuccessful extension.’
- Blues, yellows and a deep red were chosen to interact with nature, the Provençal landscape and the wider Mediterranean area.
The reconfigured six-bedroom property now has a large L-shaped footprint with a new north-side extension, allowing for a far more obvious entrance to the house. This new entrance features a rounded, arched setting for the door that mimics the existing archway into the arrival courtyard; leading into an entrance vestibule, with a more contemporary kitchen also in the new extension. The house now has a much stronger initial presence and, with an extended first floor, more weight, character and clarity. The extension was rendered using a mix of local sand grit and pebble; whilst for that of the roofing, reclaimed local pantiles ensure harmony with the existing structure.
- The first of the two blue-walled bedrooms is quite grand in scale, with an antique wardrobe, gilt-framed mirror and two chairs reupholstered in complementary blues and greys. The bedside lamps and tables complement the bright white of the headboard and bed cover. The en suite bathroom contrasts with very subdued, white and off-white floor and walls.
All the property’s windows were replaced with solid oak frames, taking the original owner’s concept of creating a grander, more imposing building even further. New north-side window shutters in blue match the existing south-facing shutters. The south-facing façade also boasts a remodelled terrace area.
For the full article see Habitat #264 March / April 2018
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