Click on photos to enlarge image
All text and graphics ©2004 Just France

LA CHAMARDE

The French film industry hasn't discovered La Chamarde yet, but when it does this serene, pastoral and supremely French country manor house will be booked for the next several summers and seen on movie screens by generations to come. Surrounded by tall shade trees and loamy fields rich with wildly growing flowers, this 165-year-old stone bastide rises proudly like a grand dame out of the Vaucluse Plateau, and one can only wonder what matter of family triumphs and tragedies have been played out within its stone walls. This is the perfect house for a loosely organized, rambling family reunion, and as such the perfect set for those plotless and utterly intriguing Gallic films where the haute bourgeoisie make their annual pilgrimage to the family maison de campagne. One can imagine the bittersweet reminiscences and spirited political discussions at the dinner table, the picnics on the lawn and the pranks by mischievous children who are scolded by clucking grandmothers as their older cousins and cousines furtively embrace in the hayloft.

La Chamarde is approached by a long driveway that terminates under a canopy of venerable oak trees. Much of the rest of this roughly 12-acre terrain is covered by lush green grass. Directly in front of the parking area is the imposing three-story bastide, originally built in 1830 by a physician from local Saint-Didier. To the right of the house is the large swimming pool, fenced and surrounded by flowers and separated from the villa by a flagstone terrace with a barbecue and table for outside dining. To the left is a small stone building that houses the family chapel, now out of use and used only as a repository for the artwork and sculpture not on display in the main house.

The aristocratic facade of La Chamarde is distinguished by tall blue shutters that flank the living and dining room windows. The imposing front door opens onto a spacious foyer with marble floors. It is immediately clear that the dominant décor of La Chamarde is period antiques set in large, well-lighted spaces. Despite the classic furnishings (and the total absence of a TV) this august house has an undeniably lived-in feeling (in fact the house has been owned by the same family since its construction), and the ambience is one of easygoing informality.

To the right of the foyer is a dining room and a table large enough for 10, and to the left a formal salon where diners might retire for expresso and cognac. Each of these rooms has a working fireplace and huge windows that open onto the front terrace. Immediately ahead is a tile-and-wood winding staircase that leads to the two upper floors. Throughout the house the ceilings are high, the floors of marble or terra cotta, and the walls white with gray trim.

Also on the ground level are a well-equipped kitchen (remodeled in 1990) with modern appliances, including a dishwasher, and off the kitchen a comfortable room with a long rectangular table and enormous working fireplace. This is a warm, inviting space where people tend to gather for informal meals, family games or to help with kitchen duties. In the annex adjoining the house is a washing machine, a second refrigerator and a freezer.

There are four bedrooms on the first French (second American). In the southwest corner of the house is a master bedroom suite that is large, airy and simply but beautifully furnished with fine antiques. The polished wood of the 19th-century bed (queen-size), writing table and chair, armoire, clothes chest and antique mirror is complemented by simple white draperies hung from wooden rods. Enormous windows look out onto the lawn and trees outside. A tiled bathroom (with stall shower) and a dressing room area completes the master bedroom suite.

Two other bedrooms in the southwest corner each have a sink in the room and one French-size double bed (spacious for one, cozy for two).

In the northwest corner of the house is another master bedroom with two large single beds, a bath with double vanity and a tub, a smaller bedroom with twin beds, and a small bedroom with a small single bed.

Additionally, there is a bath with shower and WC at the top of the stairs.

A charming feature of the staircases between each level is a tiny W. C. hidden in the corner of each landing, bringing the total number of WC to three.

The large rectangular pool is apart from but within easy view of the house. The annex that extends off the rear of the villa has a shower and serves as a poolhouse. The pool and grounds are maintained by a guardian who lives unobtrusively on the property in private quarters with a separate entrance.

There is an indescribable air of peacefulness about La Chamarde. One can be tranquil here, listening to the birdsong and smelling the flowers and lightly perfumed Provençal breezes that brush the curtains back from the windows. Every hour a church bell can be heard tolling softly but clearly from Saint-Didier, a little medieval village with a bakeries and shops and cafés and a main street shaded by plane trees.

La Chamarde is a remarkable property. It is a place that brings present enjoyment, and that leaves its mark forever in the memory of everyone who visits here.