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MAISON DÉSIRÉE

Upon discovering Maison Désirée we were reminded of Keats' sonnet "Upon First Looking Into Chapman's Homer," where the poet compares his discovery of Chapman's translation of Homer with the powerful sentiment the Spanish explorer Cortez must have felt when he first glimpsed the Pacific.

While our experience is hardly on such an epic plane, seeing Maison Désirée also gave us a sense of triumph, as if we had found something long sought. In our case the quest was for the perfect village house, a property that has nothing to apologize for in terms of décor, comfort (two bedrooms and the kitchen are air-conditioned), cleanliness, location, noise, privacy, amenities, space, authentic Provençal charm, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, modernity or price. We are now happy to offer this exceptional property to our clients in search of quality accommodations in a village environment.

Even more exciting is that the property is in Sablet, one of our very favorite villages in Provence. Its well-scrubbed streets, friendly inhabitants, pleasant cafés and two excellent bakeries - not to mention the round and plummy wines produced by the Côtes-du-Rhône vineyards that surround the village - have an inexhaustible charm that always makes Sablet a pleasure to revisit. Sablet's annual book fair in July draws authors from all over France, and in the summer concerts or theatrical events frequently take place in the church or village square. The village has just enough commerce to take care of daily needs (a post office, bank, grocery store, butcher, florist, presse and the like), just enough antiquity to make it historically interesting, and sufficiently little cachet with travel book writers - at least so far - to keep it blissfully free of giant tour buses.

Maison Désirée is what the French call a demeure- a comfortable and substantial house typically occupied by a bourgeois family of standing in the village. It is situated on a quiet street about two minutes by foot from the village square, where most of the shops are located. The courtyard, entered by a wide wrought-iron gate, is shaded by a leafy plane tree that casts its shadow over a broad terra cotta tile terrace. The shutters are off-white, the façade a pale gray, and the roof layered with thick rough tiles of burnt orange. The architecture could be mistaken for no other place than Provence.

Typically village houses have cramped bedrooms and a poor bedroom-to-bathroom ratio. Not so here. Maison Désirée is a three-story house with 330m2 (3,550 sq. ft.) of living space that includes four spacious bedrooms, four baths (one with a low ceiling) and, in the hallway between the kitchen and dining room, a guest lavatory. The plumbing and electrical systems are brand new. There are four telephone outlets. All doorways and windows are extra-wide, providing good ventilation in summer. In winter there is abundant heat from the gas-fired central heating system that feeds adjustable radiators in all rooms.

Ground Floor

The ground level is comprised of a spacious living room, attractively furnished with a white sofa, several armchairs and several reading lamps; a formal dining room with an antique buffet, a farm table for up to eight guests, and an entire wall of storage closets concealed behind antique doors; a modern kitchen with an adjacent seating and dining area, and a laundry room with an American-style washing machine and separate tumble dryer. A foyer, entered from the terrace, lies between the living and dining rooms.

There is an ambiance about Maison Désirée that is elegant without being overly formal. All rooms have high ceilings with beams, white walls, and terra cotta tile floors. The furnishings, mostly antique tables and chests and bed frames with rich woody tones, are of a consistently high quality.

The kitchen at Maison Désirée offers what every good Provençal kitchen should - a large workspace and modern appliances, a bright and cheerful space for family members to gather to keep the cook company, and a convivial place to enjoy informal meals when not dining on the terrace or in the formal dining room.

The kitchen (air-conditioned) has wide counters tiled in a pale green, and plenty of cupboards and storage space stocked with good-quality china. Appliances include a Miele dishwasher, good-sized two-door refrigerator, and a vintage La Cornue cast-iron stove with two gas and two electric burners as well as a grill and two ovens. Concealed behind wood panels are a dishwasher and a large three-door refrigerator, the third door being for a special compartment to store beverages. A powder room is next to the kitchen.

Separated from the kitchen by a tall counter is one of the most delightful places in the house - a dining-sitting area with a table and chairs, small sofa, and a cabinet that houses a television with full satellite reception (including CNN and BBC channels). Light streams in from a long sliding glass door that opens directly onto the terrace. This is the perfect place for breakfast, for a simple meal in cool months, or for relaxing and catching up on the evening news.

Middle Floor

The staircase from the foyer leads up to a broad landing with an antique loveseat and a full window overlooking the courtyard. On each side of the landing is a spacious bedroom. The commodious master bedroom, which overlooks the courtyard, has a queen-sized bed in a wrought-iron frame, an antique chest of drawers with a gilded mirror, and a gorgeous 18th-century walnut armoire that almost reaches to the ceiling. There is also a sitting area with a loveseat and armchair. As with all bedrooms at Maison Désirée, there are twin bedside tables with good lamps for reading.

Adjacent to the bedroom is a dressing room with two walls of closets. Beyond is the lovely master bath, well-illuminated and tiled in pale gray and rose, with double sinks, a tub with hand-held shower, and WC.

The second bedroom, only slightly smaller than the master, also overlooks the courtyard and has a 140cm (55" across) double bed in a polished Louis-Phillipe sleigh frame. The small ensuite bath, tiled in white, has a stall shower and WC. The striking marble fireplace, of gray marble, is for decorative purposes only.

Upper Floor

On the top level (second French and third American floor) are two further bedrooms separated by a landing. Both have 140cm double beds in antique wood frames, beamed ceilings, and large windows overlooking the courtyard. The larger bedroom, which stretches the entire depth of the house, also has a view northwest over village rooftops to the surrounding countryside. While more spacious, this bedroom is sparsely furnished. As with the bedrooms on the middle level, the floors are restored terra cotta tile.

These two bedrooms share a pretty tile bath, with a small tub and overhead shower and separate WC, that opens off a landing between the middle and upper floors.

For added convenience there is also a fourth bathroom, with a tub, hand-held shower and WC, discreetly hidden by an antique door that opens off the living room on the ground floor. This bath is well lighted and tiled in blue and white, but has a low ceiling that makes it inappropriate for tall people.

The Terrace and Vegetable Garden

The image that immediately endears Maison Désirée to first-time visitors is its pretty terrace. Around the borders are giant ceramic urns brimming with geraniums and other brightly colored flowers. For dining guests may choose between a wrought-iron table with inlaid ceramic tile top and benches for up to eight people, or a smaller wrought-iron table with four chairs. The view is toward the village street and, in the distance, the Dentelles de Montmirail. With doors opening into the foyer, dining room and kitchen, the terrace seems to form one contiguous space with the interior rooms.

Along one side of the house, reached by a small stone stairway, is an immaculate little potager, or vegetable garden, that is lovingly maintained by an elderly man with a warm and friendly disposition. Guests are welcome to supplement their purchases from the local green grocer (on the village square) with tomatoes, lettuce, radishes and zucchini from the garden.

The Region

The countryside surrounding Sablet - a montage of fertile plains, sprawling vineyards and rugged mountains of the Dentelles de Montmirail - is among the most beautiful in France. But even with its peaceful and utterly serene country setting, urban centers with supermarkets and commerce are within easy reach, with Vaison-la-Romaine a drive of 15-20 minutes to the north, and Carpentras only slightly further to the south. Vaison (which has an amphitheater and a fascinating display of ruins from Roman times) and Carpentras also have weekly outdoor food markets that are among the most colorful in Provence. Orange, known for its annual festival of opera held every July in the Roman ampitheater, is less than a half-hour.

As every oenophile knows, the most famous crop of the Vaucluse Plateau is the full-bodied red wines of the Côtes-du-Rhône appellation and its specially designated villages. The village appellations include Cairanne, Rasteau, Séguret, Beaumes-de-Venise and, the most highly reputed of all the village wines, Sablet. The famed appellations of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras, only a few minutes away, have achieved special recognition, and attract serious wine lovers from all over the world.

As a glance at the Guide Gault-Millau or Michelin Guide Rouge will show, the immediate area around Sablet has a rich variety of restaurants in all styles and price categories. Just a three-minute walk away is Les Abeilles, Jonathan Sailor's excellent restaurant, admiringly reviewed by cookbook writer Patricia Wells, who has a house and cooking school in nearby Vaison-la-Romaine. Le Grand Pré, at Roaix (3 km) and Le Moulin à Huile, at Vaison-la-Romaine (13 km), both merit one star in the Guide Rouge. Les Florets, at Gigondas (2 km), is a fine Provençal restaurant. Carpentras, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (30 km to the southwest) and Orange add another dozen or so quality tables to the list. And for lunch or a simple but flavorful dinner, in our view there is no better spot then the super-friendly Café des Ramparts - on the village square in Sablet, a brief and pleasant stroll from Maison Désirée.