La Maison du Faiencier,
Bookable with Gites guarantee
You are staying with
The house
Magnificent ‘Master’s House’ offering luxurious spacious accommodation for 10. Built in 1609 with flagstone floors, vaulted ceilings, exposed stone walls, large light-filled rooms. .
As you step onto the flagstone floors of this 400 year old ‘Maison de Maitre’ you’re immediately aware of history and luxury.
From the vaulted hall you enter into a stylish living/dining room which is separated by an archway from the very large and well-equipped kitchen.
Both have access to the charming courtyard - great for outdoor eating and use of the barbecue - which leads onto the walled garden.
In this retreat from village life you can sunbathe on the terrace surrounding the pool, find shade under the fig or apricot tree or take a dip in the roman-basin style pool.
Throughout the house, the décor is simple and stylish with the original features having been carefully restored with local materials in authentic Provencal style.
Each of the five double bedrooms is very light and airy, and has its own private bathroom with power shower, solid brass fittings and hand made wash basins made to order from the master potter who has his shop and work place next door.
Each of the rooms can be made up with two single beds or put together to make up king-sized double beds. Air-conditioning is supplied in the 4 top floor bedrooms.
The beds are made up with pure white linen (from The White Company in the UK) which is professionally laundered.
The maximum number of people (adults and children over 2 years of age) allowed to be staying in the house (ie living and/or sleeping) is 10.
There are 2 cots, 2 high chairs and 2 children’s beds, as well as mattress protectors, available for children
The kitchen on the ground floor has been designed with communal cooking in mind. It has six meters of work surface, two spanish stone sinks, and a ‘La Canche’ five burner piano style gas cooker.
There are two terraces ... one just outside the kitchen as mentioned, the other at the end of the garden. Clients habitually eat all their meals outside. At breakfast time the air is beautifully fresh before the Mediterranean sun becomes intense and the evenings are wonderfully long and balmy. There is a fig and apricot tree in the garden which offer good shade for those that seek it, and delicious fruit when the season is right. There are six comfortable loungers around the pool.
Registration code
83145000028K8 (RP)
Facilities
- No smoking
- Local contact
- Historic building
- Back to basic
- Ecological
- Suitable for large groups
- Safe for small children
- Dishwasher
- Washing machine
- Iron
- Fenced garden
- Pets welcome
- Baby sitter
- Cot
- High chair
- Playground
- TV
- Internet
- Hair dryer
- Bath
- Airconditioning
- With swimming pool
- Private pool
- Charging station
Availability of 'La Maison du Faiencier,'
Surroundings
Click on image to open an interactive map
Step out of the front door of the house and you know immediately you’re in the south of France: the sights, sounds, obvious slow pace of life where the locals stop at every corner to greet each other and swap the latest gossip. The heat is relaxing, light intense, colours vibrant. A few paces away is the local cafe terrace - the ideal place for a leisurely drink.
But although you are very aware of being in a little Provencial village ‘lost’ in the foot hills of the Alps, travelling to and fro is easy. Marseille airport is an hour’s drive away, Nice is just under two. The TGV train service direct to Paris is reached in an hour and if travelling by car you can join the A8 motorway in 20 minutes, which takes you in the direction of either Italy or Spain.
- Rural
- Hilly
- Meadows and woodland
- In or near a village
Restaurants, food & wine
The village has everything you need: a baker for the freshly baked baguette, a butcher - the French love good quality meat, a restaurant which is frequented by clients from far and wide, as well as a pizzera, bar, grocery shop for forgotten essentials and a pharmacy.
There’s a large supermarket ten minutes away and a huge Hyper-market 20 minutes away. You can order on line.
But Provence still loves its street markets. Right in front of the house, once a week, villagers sell their fresh veg, eggs and cheese. Many of the local towns have markets that take the morning to visit and the city of Aix has so many various market stalls it reserves a ‘Place’ for each of the type of produce - to mention just a few ... flowers, handicrafts, antiques and of course, cloths.
Activities
Finished with sun bathing by the pool or walking/hiking/cycling through the endless forrest, olive groves and vineyards that surround the village and there are endless other activities to enjoy.
For example in the village itself there is a huge park, seen from the house, which offers tennis, boules, table tennis and a very well equiped child’s play area.
Go north 25 minutes in the car and you arrive at the famous ‘Gorge de Verdon’ - known as 'Europe’s Grand Canyon’. Spread out at the foothills of the Alps it has 25 kms of lakes and rivers offering an array of water sports - from leisurely boating to white water rafting.
On the way to the Gorge you pass the famous lavender fields. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and listen for the ‘hum’ of busy bees - the heady scent of lavender is strongest in the heart of the summer when the purple/blue prairies stretch as far as the eye can see.
But we are spoit for choice here. Go south for an hour and you are surrounded by all that the sophisticated Mediterranean coast has to offer, go west to the city of Aix-en-Provence, and you’re in the south’s capital of culture: art, music, exquisite architecture.
In which ever direction you travel take a break to visit the many hill-top medieval villages which surround you on your journey and which offer magnificent panoramic vistas of the area.
- Bicycle
- Near hiking trails
- Near ATB trails
- Near riding
- Water sports
- Mountain sports
- Flying and gliding
Further remarks
CLIENT REVIEWS:
If you would like to listen to the recorded interviews with eleven previous groups of guests (2004 - 2022) go to You Tube and search for @lamaisondufaiencier.
ADELE FROM ROME:
In the summer of 2023 a group of 3 couples and their 4 little children came to stay from Rome, Italy. Here are their comments ...
Ron's house is incredible. Centrally located on a pretty little square, almost the only one in Varages, with a bar with comfortable tables and chairs, tall trees providing shade and the Thursday market for local products, where locals queue with their Wicker baskets to fill.
Around Varages is all countryside, which makes travelling pleasant and relaxing. There are neighbouring villages all with the same characteristics: beautiful colours, nice bars in the shade of the trees, beautiful fountains typical of the area, lots of excellent rosé and local handicrafts. Varages is also a good location for visiting larger towns like Aix-en-Provence or Marseilles.
But Ron's house, with its huge, well-equipped kitchen and its garden enclosed by ancient ivy-covered walls, encourages you to stay half the day at home to relax by the pool and enjoy the spacious, finely furnished rooms and the coolness of the large walls of a 1609 mansion.
Ron is very welcoming and helpful and gave us great advice on what to see, where to eat and what activities to do. Just a few kilometres from Varages are the famous Gorges du Verdon, which add a splash of nature to the trip to the small towns of Provence. A trip to do again without a doubt: same place, same house.
PARKING
Parking in the village is easy. Unload and load the car a meter from the front door of the house and then park 2 minutes walk away around the corner from the house where there is free parking for 30 odd vehicles. There is also a double electric charging post.
CHILDRENS EQUIPMENT
There are 2 cots, 2 high chairs, 2 children-size beds and mattress protectors available.
BOOKING FORM AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF RENTAL:
When you request to reserve the property we will send you two short documents 1) a Booking Form, so you can tell us, amongst other things, how many single-bedded rooms and double bedded rooms you need and 2) the Terms and Conditions which ensure the smooth running of the rental. Both of these documents need to be signed and returned to us before you book the property.
SECURITY DEPOSIT:
As you will have seen on the Gites.com site there is a Security Deposit of €1000. This is payable directly to the property owner before arrival. It is refunded directly by the property owner, within one week of your departure. Please see the Terms and Conditions of rental for details.
Video
Additional price info and offers
Free of charge mid-term cleaning:
If your stay is, for example, two weeks long we ask that during the morning of the middle Saturday we have a 2 hour slot to bring in a team to do an ‘interim clean’ of the kitchen, bedrooms (plus a change of linen) and bathrooms. There is no charge.
Towels:
The towels sets include three towels ... large bath towel, hand towel and face towel. They are good quality pure white cotton made by 'The White Company' in the UK. They are for use only in the house and not around the pool. The charge is €20 per set per week.
Price includes
Bed linen
Price exclusive
- Safety deposit € 1 000.00
- Cleaning fee (compulsory) € 200.00
- Price towels per person (optional) € 20.00
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Reviews
La Maison du Faiencier, has not received any reviews over the last 4 years.