An 18th-century patrician dwelling, conducive to a variety of interpretations, in the ancient Roman city of Arles, within the greater Provencal region
An 18th-century patrician dwelling, conducive to a variety of interpretations, in the ancient Roman city of Arles, within the greater Provencal region.
In the western part of Provence and the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Arles is located between the Alpilles Mountains, the Camargue countryside and the Mediterranean. As the beneficiary of a long history lulled by the Rhone River, the breadth of its many Unesco World Heritage monuments contributes to the quality of its cultural life, internationally renowned in many artistic fields, while its museums, foundations, galleries, numerous shops, a large green market and restaurants participate in creating a dynamic city centre.
In addition, its SNCF train station makes it possible to reach Paris as well as several other major French cities via high-speed rail, whereas regional trains and the A54 motorway provide access to the region's other cities, including Avignon, 35 kilometres away.
The small street, within immediate proximity to the ancient Roman arena and theatre, is located in the heart of Gallo-Roman Arles. Here, each street and each stone is marked by history, while successive generations and buildings have helped highlight its existing antique edifices. As for the Hauture hillside, situated in the city's historical sector, it combines the monumental outlines of imperial Antiquity with the architectural beauty that later Provencal powers brought to this city, whereas this neighbourhood has been able to successfully preserve its residential charm despite, like in all Western cities, the town's westward expansion.
Thanks to a 19th-century local scholar, we now know that the property, enclosed by walls, was made up of two dwellings in 1735 before being sold by a squire from Avignon. Facing east-west, this three-storey ashlar stone dwelling features an inhabitable floor area of approximately 290 m² and was built above a basement of cellars, which was once used to ensure the dwelling's overall sanitation.
With rectangular, small-paned windows on its two lower floors, topped with arched entablatures and safeguarded by solid metal and wooden shutters, its burnished plaster-coated exteriors blend in seamlessly with the other buildings on the street, while its heavy wooden entrance, decorated with scrollwork, a low arched stone entablature and a typically Rococo-style cartouche, confirms the building's Regency-Louis XV architectural origins.
Lastly, the dwelling boasts a verdant concrete patio, of approximately 40 m² and accessible from the first floor, a garage, located below, similar in size and topped with a mezzanine, as well as a rear stone courtyard.
The DwellingThe dwelling's front door opens on to a vestibule, separated from the rest of the house thanks to a small-paned glass and wood partition, in all likelihood from the 19th century and used to insulate the rest of the dwelling from cold winter days, which gives on to the entrance hall decorated with wooden wainscoting and an original Italianate terrazzo floor, surrounded by a frieze.
The use of this material, composed of marble and earthenware fragments combined with lime or clay, has been passed down over the centuries in Italy, ever since the heyday of Pompeii, and had a major influence on the south of France before becoming overwhelmingly popular once again in the 1930s with the arrival of Art Deco as well as its industrialisation around 1950.
In addition, directly opposite the front door, an archway flanked by slender Doric pilasters provides a solemn tone for the base of the staircase around which the entire dwelling is structured.
The ground floor
The rooms on this floor are symmetrically arranged around the entrance hall, the latter of which is embellished by its wooden décor. Two bedrooms and two sitting rooms face each other, one of which has been equipped with a water ...
