In the old town of La Ciotat, a 17th-century two-floor apartment with historic painted frescoes, a pergola-covered inner courtyard and a garden - ref
In the old town of La Ciotat, a 17th-century two-floor apartment with historic painted frescoes, a pergola-covered inner courtyard and a garden.
In the Bouches-du-Rhône, between Marseille and Toulon, La Ciotat sits at the head of one of the most celebrated bays in the world and within the perimeter of the Parc national des Calanques, which includes the Parc du Mugel, noted for its botanical diversity. The apartment stands in the old town, where a network of narrow lanes encloses a varied architectural heritage: churches, chapels, historic gateways and hôtels particuliers, several of them listed. An active Mediterranean city, La Ciotat combines cultural and economic life, sustained in part by a shipyard specialising in yacht refit. The railway station and road connections are within approximately 10 minutes; Marseille international airport is under 1 hour away.
Two entrances lead into the commonhold building from a lane in the historic centre. The first opens onto the garden-level floor; the second gives onto an inner courtyard, with a garden beyond, around which the 17th-century building forms a U. At garden level, the entrance hall of approximately 17 m² serves an fitted kitchen with a Cassis stone sink, a study, a cloakroom and a shower room with lavatory; a hallway leads further to a storeroom. A dining room and a self-contained bedroom of approximately 10 m² open directly onto the courtyard, as do the other rooms on this level.
A door at the foot of the staircase marks the separation between levels. Above, a glazed lobby opens into an entrance hall, where a fitted cupboard conceals what was formerly an alcove connecting to the sitting room beyond. This level holds three bedrooms, two of generous proportions, each with a marble-mantled fireplace. One faces the courtyard and adjoins a bathroom whose wrought-iron balcony overlooks the garden; the walls here carry historic painted frescoes, and a freestanding bath rests on hexagonal terracotta tiles. A shower room with lavatory serves the remaining two bedrooms, each with a fitted wardrobe off a short hallway. Floors alternate between terracotta tiles and polished concrete; the entrance hall is distinguished by elegant black-and-white octagonal stone paving.
The exteriorShaded by a pergola wound with a vine, the inner courtyard contains a well, a functional wash-house and a storage area. The garden is planted with a variety of species including a plane-leaved mulberry, polygala, papyrus, citrus trees, bamboo and vine, alongside an old rose, wisteria and jasmine. A timber shelter provides convenient storage for garden equipment.
