Historic Sites, Town, beach, Rural, swimming pool, Sea View, Ground Floor, Conversion, South Facing, Storage, garden, balcony, terrace, Beamwork, Attic, Basement, Cellar, central heating, Dining Room, Double Garage, Ensuite, fireplace, garage, Landscaped Gardens, Lobby, Study, Views, Wine Cellar, Olive Grove, Shower, Toilet
This remarkable bastide was lovingly built by a local builder for himself and family some 36 years ago, incorporating elements of fine old architectural salvage. Since then its many olive, fruit and palm trees and tall box hedges have matured to give this property a feel of almost monastic privacy and tranquility. Despite being only 5 mins from the beautiful and historic old town of Vence, 15 mins from the beach and 20 mins from Nice airport.
The house is rich in characterful old materials, like terracotta tiled floors, marble floors, massive stone walls, huge timber beams, bespoke wrought-iron banisters and rail, traditional copper guttering and old Provencale roof tiles - which have been harmoniously combined with modern amenities like the swimming pool, automatic garden watering, and water-heating fireplace that assists the gas boiler. Extensive renovation and improvements were done two years ago and the house is now in perfect condition.
Ground floor: A tall and airy entrance hall, off which are: A huge 74m lounge and dining room with working fireplace, and glazed doors onto the shaded terrace. A spacious fully equipped kitchen. A large east and south facing guest bedroom, with glazed doors onto a private terrace. An even larger, south facing, master bedroom with glazed doors onto a paved terrace. Magnificent unimpeded views over wooded countryside to the sea and the Cap dAntibes.
A bathroom. The 5th bedroom, large in size, currently used as a study, with ISDN internet connection. A WC. This end of the house could easily be converted into self-contained guest accommodation, and benefits from a separate entrance.
First floor: Fine marble stairs lead up from the entrance hall to a landing, off which are: A big double bedroom with shower room en-suite, and glazed doors onto a private, south facing, stone-built balcony. And then a second, even bigger double bedroom, south facing, with bathroom en-suite. Both rooms enjoy even broader views over the countryside to the sea and the Cap dAntibes.
Basement: Fine marble stairs lead down from the entrance hall to a vast 140m basement which is even larger than the ground floor above, and divided up into: A double garage, a wine cellar, a workshop, a large storage room, a small storage room, and the central heating boiler room. There is ample space here to convert part into a self-contained guest apartment.
Garden: Being a large, flat 2800m plot which is landscaped and enclosed with hedges, it is private and peaceful with no vis-a-vis. In addition to the 10m x 4.5m pool and pool house, there are lawns, abundant flower beds and mature trees: 5 old palm trees, a big old pine tree, 6 olive trees that yield about 200 kg of olives every year, pears, oranges, lemons, cherries, figs, apricots, kumquats and mandarins. Without getting out of your chair on the shady terrace, with its view down to the sea, you can reach for a lemon from which to cut a slice for your aperitif. Now thats living!