A 19th-century house to be restored with a 300m² floor area and a sweeping view of the sea and vineyards, in the Provençal village of Le Castellet - r
A 19th-century house to be restored with a 300m² floor area and a sweeping view of the sea and vineyards, in the Provençal village of Le Castellet.
The medieval village of Le Castellet developed around its 15th-cenutry chateau. It lies halfway between the Mediterranean cities of Marseille and Toulon upon a hill where it looks down at the vineyards of the Bandol winegrowing area, which has a protected label of origin. The house is tucked away in a calm spot free of unwanted noise. You reach it via quaint alleyways where several scenes in Marcel Pagnol's film "La Femme du boulanger" ("The Baker's Wife") were shot. You can get to nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools by bus. On foot you can get to shops and a market where local producers have stalls in the shade of plane trees. The Mediterranean beaches of Bandol, Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer and Sanary-sur-Mer are nearby. Frégate Golf Club - an 18-hole golf course - and the Paul Ricard motorsport race track add to the local tourist attractions. Only 10 minutes away there is a slip road onto the A50 motorway. The high-speed train stations in Toulon and Marseille are respectively 20 and 35 minutes away. And you can get to Marseille international airport in just 50 minutes.
The upper part of the house - the first floor and the ground floor with its terrace - offers a floor area of around 200m² and could be sold separately for €580,000. When you arrive from outside the village - and have seen its open-sided 17th-century washhouse and crossed its square Place des Remparts - you reach the lower part of the house and can enter its second lower level directly from the street. Another way to the house is to come from the Portalet archway - a former gateway in the village's fortified enclosing wall - and to then follow the narrow streets over 80 metres to the dwelling's entrance door in the heart of the village. There, you can step into the ground floor. The terraced house has a four-level south elevation, which is bright, imposing and adorned with two small cone-roofed towers on its large terrace. The whole edifice, which was built in the 18th or 19th century upon the village's old ramparts, offers a floor area of 300m² and displays a certain aesthetic balance. Its north elevation has a ground floor and a first floor. It heralds a plainly styled yet generously sized townhouse. The building's roof of barrel tiles is typical of Provence. It is underlined with a double-row génoise cornice. On foot from the home, you can make the most of the village's pedestrianised streets and nearby shops. Yet if need be, you have the possibility to park a vehicle at the foot of the south elevation. There is a car park for residents and the general public around 150 metres away.
The houseBeyond a heavy wooden entrance door lies the delightful interior of a large upper-middle-class townhouse with plain architecture and well-proportioned spaces. A stairwell leads up to the first floor, where there are many bedrooms, and down to the two lower floors, bringing together a range of rooms and bedrooms. From the ground floor, glazed doors lead out onto a large, tiled terrace that faces south. The second lower floor leads straight outside, offering a second entrance from the lower part of the village. You can also reach a separate cellar from this level. The house is crowned with a roof of barrel tiles, underlined with a double-row génoise cornice. The elevations coated with rendering, the window catches, the terracotta-tiled floors and the indoor iron fittings are typical of the 19th century and the local region.
The ground floor
The entrance hall connects to a kitchen on the right. Two windows that look out at the street Rue des Boucheries fill this kitchen with natural light. Next, there is a lavatory and stairs that lead upstairs and downstairs. The hallway also leads to ...
