An 18th Century Country House Of 600 M², With Natural Swimming Pool, Park And 19 Hectare

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. 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.
Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisques website: https://www.georisques.gouv.fr/