Large luxurious house in a 'lost in time' hill-top Provencial village
- Sleeps10
- Bedroom(s)5
- Bathroom(s)5
- From £450/Night ( All rates )
Description
As you step inside this 400 year-old 'maison de maitre' onto the flagstone floors, 'La Maison du Faiencier' exudes a sense of history. From the vaulted hall you enter a stylish living/dining room, separated by an archway from the exceptionally well-equipped kitchen. Both, look on to and have access to a charming courtyard (ideal outdoor eating area) which leads into the 360 m2 walled garden. There you can sit under the shade of the vines and fruit trees or take a dip in the pool (7mx3.5m).
Throughout the house the emphases is on quality and luxury with all the original features having been carefully restored. Each bedroom is light and airy, tastefully decorated with original materials, and with its own private bathroom. Rooms can be made up with large single or super-king-sized double beds.
The house is situated on the main square, (Place) right in the heart of a small but active village. Across the square, you'll find the local, (very ‘French’) boulangerie, boucherie, cafe and restaurant.
Wifi:
Unlimited wifi available free of charge.
You Tube:
On our YouTube channel ‘La Maison du Faiencier' you can see and hear what eleven of our previous international client groups (most with children) thought of the property and area. There is also a 3 minute photo montage of the house, garden and pool.
Booking the property:
There is a Rental Deposit is 30% of the full rental payment due at the time of booking. Please see our Terms and Conditions later in this document under the section 'Policies'.
Covid-19:
There is a special 'last minute' cancellation policy due to the virus. Please see our Terms and Conditions later in this document under section 'Policies'.
Local Activities:
This is an excellent place for walking, given its proximity to the Gorge du Verdon and its lesser known lower gorges and lakes. Panoramic views in abundance. Lavender plains also near-by, which are so worth seeing when in full flower. Local markets can be experienced most days of the week and there are plenty of delightful medieval, hill-top villages to explore.
Local beaches and swimming at the near-by lakes. Mediterranean coast is 1 hour's drive away.
Local Food & Wine:
A restaurant serving traditional French cuisine is right on the 'doorstep' in Varages and several good, inexpensive restaurants can be found in Barjols, just 10-minutes drive way. For the more exclusive menu, a drive to some of the exquisite local hill-top villages is to be recommended with views and sunsets to accompany the meal. Local domaines abound, where you can sample the Provence wines.
A piece of Provincial history:
Home, in the past, to Masters of earthenware and porcelain (faience), you'll be experiencing a piece of history in comfortable luxury surroundings, with all the amenities on your doorstep. And there is the added bonus that this little bit of Provence, though exceptionally beautiful, is largely 'undiscovered'.
Resident:
I am resident at 'La Maison du Faiencier' (with my dog) all year round. We live in a self-contained apartment, out of sight and sound of our clients.
This is a large house and we have renovated it in such a way as to allow us to have a separate unseen internal staircase leading off the garage to our apartment which comprises of a salon, double bedroom and two bathrooms.
This means we all share the main outer entrance door, but once in the entrance hall, our clients have their own inner entrance door which takes them through, at ground floor level, to the main part of the house, the garden with pool and to the central stairs with their five bedrooms and en suite bathrooms on the first and second floors.
During the client's stay I like, with their permission, to water the garden and clean the pool on a regular basis. This way both stay fresh and inviting. This can be done at any convenient time. However, after brief discussion at the beginning of their stay, it often works out that this little bit of maintenance is done early in the morning before anyone is about.
Being ‘sur place’ also means of course, that I am available should they ever need any help or advice.
The last guests in 2020:
The last guests of 2020 were Bertrand & Marie from Lyon. After their holiday they wrote (in French) saying ...
We, a family of 10 adults and 2 babies, spent the first week of September in Varages.
We arrived in a house which was very clean and excepIonally comfortable.
The locaIon, being on the main ‘Place’ of the village, had seduced us. We did all our shopping two minutes from the house and if we fancied stopped for a coffee on the way home. Each week there is a liPle street market right outside the front door - great!
Inside the house, which remains fresh given the thickness of the walls, everything works extremely well. The kitchen is very well appointed and is worthy of a top chef.
Then, the extra specially large bedrooms and bathrooms is impressive and much appreciated. The showers themselves are huge, it's top-notch! The bedrooms on the top floor have room to spare for a cot and also a bed for a small child.
Everything has been done with great taste ... chic and sober.
The garden was much appreciated as well, with its swimming pool and two terraced areas for meals outdoors. It’s very nice.
The neighbours on the garden side of the house were never disturbing from the point of view of noise. You can see clothes drying at the window! And we heard absolutely nothing at all from the ‘Place’ at the front of the property.
A beautiful house well looked after by Ron Alldridge.
Location
| Address: La Maison du Faiencier, Place de la Liberation, Varages, France | ||
| Zip/Postal Code: 83 | ||
| Latitude/Longitude: 44 / 6 | ||
| Nearest airport | Marseille | 60 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Nearest bar / pub | 2 minutes | |
| Nearest beach | Gorge du Verdon | 20 minutes |
| Nearest boulangerie | 2 minutes | |
| Nearest doctor | 2 minutes | |
| Nearest ferry port | Marseille | 60 minutes |
| Nearest market | 1 minutes | |
| Nearest restaurant | 2 minutes | |
| Nearest river | 5 minutes | |
| Nearest supermarket | 3 minutes | |
| Nearest train station | Aix-en-Provence | 45 minutes |
Directions
Communications are great. The village is just twenty minutes north of the town of Saint-Maximin-Sainte-Baume on the A8 motorway which runs across the south of France from northern Italy to Spain. And in 60 -90 minutes drive there are two international airports and the TGV rail line to Paris.
Neighborhood
The house is situated on the main ‘Place’, at the very heart of this small but active and very authentically French village. Across from the house is the local boulangerie, boucherie, bar, corner shop and restaurant. Five minutes walk away is a pharmacy, boules and tennis court, and park with a dedicated children’s play area.
Parking is plentiful and free just around the corner from the property.
They say in the tourist offices here that the area is 'blest' with sunshine 300 days a year. It’s not true. It’s more than that.
The village of Varages (famous for it’s production of ‘Faiencier’ i.e. fine pottery) is in the middle of the diverse attractions of this part of Provence. Go north for 20 minutes and you find the ‘Gorges du Verdon’ ... Europe’s Grand Canyon: 25 kilometers of lakes and rivers. Go south and you have the sophistication of the Cote D’Azur … St Tropez, Cassie, Cannes etc. Out west is Aix-en-Provence, said to be the most beautiful city in Europe and all around the village are endless olive groves and vineyards dotted with lost-in-time medieval villages.
Accommodation, facilities, utilities
Availability
- Booked
- Pending
- Available
- Unknown
Rates
| - | Nightly rate | Weekly rate | Monthly rate | Min. Stay | Change-over | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Weekend | |||||
| Rate summary | £450 - £600 | £3,450 | £13,800 | 7 Nights | - | |
| 03-Apr-2021 - 30-Oct-2021 All seasons | £450 | £600 | £3,450 | £13,800 | 7 Nights | Sat - Sat |
Add-ons
| Addon type | Price | Charge type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animal | Mandatory | £30 | One time |
Policies
Terms and Conditions
Confirmation:
Formal confirmation of your booking will be by signed letter from La Maison du Faiencier. This letter will be sent to you on our receipt of 1) the completed Booking Form and 2) the Rental Deposit.
It is understood that the person making the booking acts on behalf of all the members of the party.
Rental Deposit:
The Rental Deposit is 30% of the full rental payment due.
Balance of Payment:
The Balance of Payment is the full rental payment due for the entire rental period (less the Rental Deposit if this has already been paid). The Balance of Payment is paid not less than 60 days before the start date of the rental period.
Security Deposit:
The Security Deposit for the property is £1000. This is also paid in full not less than 60 days before the start date of the rental period. It will be repaid in full (or in part, subject to any reasonable cost of necessary repairs or replacements or connected administrative costs) no later than 7 days after the end of the rental period. The Security Deposit will not, in any way, limit your liability to us.
Non Payment:
If the Balance of Payment and the Security Deposit are not paid by the stated times, we shall be entitled to cancel your booking and retain the Rental Deposit, without prejudice to our claim for cancellation charges.
Bookings made within a period of 60 days:
For reservations made within a 60 day period of the start date of the rental period, the Rental Deposit, Balance of Payment and the Security Deposit will all be paid at the same time as the Booking Form is sent.
Cancellation:
Any cancellation should be made by written and signed letter (not just an email) posted or scanned and emailed to the owner and will be effective from the date and time that it is received.
The ‘start date of the rental period’ will be taken to mean 5pm (local time) on the stated first day of the rental period.
Holidaymakers who cancel at least 60 days before check-in will get back 100% of the amount that they've paid. If they cancel between 30 and 60 days before check-in, they'll get back 50% of the amount that they’ve paid. In such situations we will market the rental period again and if we receive an equivalent booking which replaces the cancelled reservation we will refund the Rental Deposit in full.
Otherwise, they won’t get a refund.
Covid-19: For holiday makers permanently resident in the EU and the UK (only) there is a special cancellation policy due to the virus. Cancelations made 30 to 0 days before check-in due to a French government national ‘lockdown’ (which prohibits travel to ‘La Maison du Faiencier’ within a period of 72 hours before check-in) will receive a 100% refund of monies due to the property owner.
Holidaymakers must cancel by 11:59 p.m. on the cut-off day before check-in to receive a refund. All times are local to the property.
In the event of a cancellation of the booking the Security Deposit (if paid) will always be refunded
Client responsibility:
As a client you agree to let only the people named on the Booking Form reside at La Maison du Faïencier. The Booking Form can be altered any time up until the start date of the rental period.
The maximum number of people residing at the property is 10.
You undertake to inform us, at the time of the occurrence and at the end of your stay, of any losses, damaged items or damage to the property. This allows us the maximum amount of time to put the problem right before the following clients take up residence.
You undertake to pay us for any loss or damage incurred in connection with your holiday at La Maison du Faïencier.
You agree to be a considerate tenant and to take good care of the property and to leave it in a clean and tidy condition at the end of the rental period. Although a final clean is included in our prices, we reserve the right to deduct from the Security Deposit the costs of any additional cleaning if you leave the property, in our reasonable opinion, in an unacceptable condition.
You also agree not to act in any way which would cause disturbance or annoyance to those resident in neighbouring properties.
You agree that no smoking is allowed anywhere in the house.
You agree to us watering the garden and maintaining the swimming pool on a regular bases. This is done, usually, every other day. The time when this is done can be arranged to be when it is most convenient for all concerned. This is usually early in the morning before any clients are up and about.
If your stay is longer than one week the owners require, ideally during the morning of the middle Saturday(s), a 2 hour slot to bring in a team to do an ‘interim clean’ of the kitchen, bedrooms (plus change of linen) and bathrooms. This is at the owners expense.
Our responsibility:
We accept responsibility (without prejudice to any defence available to us by law) for any personal injury or death sustained by you, or any member of your party specified on the Booking Form, as a direct result of our negligence or the negligence of anyone employed by us, acting in the course of their work. Otherwise we shall not be liable for any other loss or damage howsoever caused.
We do not accept liability for happenings or actions outside our reasonable control such as (but not limited to) the breakdown of domestic appliances, the swimming pool or electrical equipment, plumbing, strikes, temporary invasion of pests or other events amounting to force majeure.
We will do what is reasonable to ensure that La Maison du Faïencier and its facilities are as described in any descriptive brochure and on the internet website.
Under no circumstances shall our liability to you exceed the amount paid to us for the rental period.
We reserve the right in our absolute discretion (if we consider you or any member of your party unfit to occupy the property or generally to protect the property and its contents) to refuse you or any member of your party admission to the property and/or require you or any member of your party to leave the property (within one hour’s notice) at any stage of your holiday
Heating:
The house, which is available for rental all year round, has full gas central heating. The cost of using the heating is additional to the full rental payment.
Arrival and Departure:
The property is available from 5.00 pm (local time) on the first day of the rental period and it would be greatly appreciated if collection of the keys was not later than 7.30 pm.
Departure from the property on the final Saturday is by 10.00 am (local time) to enable the house, garden and pool to be fully prepared for the following clients. If this is not adhered to we reserve the right, in our absolute discretion, to charge a full extra day's rental and deduct such sum from the Security Deposit.
Personal insurance:
Clients are urged to arrange a comprehensive travel insurance policy (including cancellation cover) and to have full cover for the party's personal belongings and public liability.
Updated December 2020
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Contact owner
- Ron Alldridge
- 0800 8021821 (from UK)
- +44 3333 442837 (Non-UK)
- Property ID: 1165
- View owner listings
- Speaks: French, English
