A 19th-century villa to be renovated with a guesthouse, a chapel and 8,700m² of grounds with a pool and terraced garden, nestled on a hill in the town
A 19th-century villa to be renovated with a guesthouse, a chapel and 8,700m² of grounds with a pool and terraced garden, nestled on a hill in the town of Draguignan in southern France.
The property is ideally located, in the town of Draguignan, between the sparkling Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the breathtaking Verdon Gorge. Draguignan is a historical town in the centre of France's beautiful Var department. It used to be the administrative centre of France's Var department. The town has grown strongly through tourism, drawing visitors to its old clock tower, winding narrow alleys and quaint squares hidden in its historical heart. The area around Draguignan has enjoyed cultural renewal through its museums, art foundations and other exhibition centres. This charming corner of France combines history, culture and agritourism in the middle of the CĂ´tes de Provence vineyards. You can reach the property by rail or air: the high-speed train station Les Arcs-Draguignan is only 20 minutes from the villa and Nice international airport is just an hour away. And you can easily reach the property by road too: the A57 motorway is only 15 minutes away.
The villa is hidden among the greenery that surrounds it, nestled at the foot of Malmont hill, 1.6 kilometres from Draguignan town centre. Beyond a bend in the road, a gate leads onto a 30-metre-long driveway edged with a low dry-stone wall. This drive leads up to the villa. The plot covers over 8,700m² and is dotted with trees. The villa stands in the middle of it, offering a 360m² floor area. A guesthouse, which offers a 71m² floor area, lies 20 metres north of the villa. With the property's outhouses and a chapel on the east side, the total indoor floor area is over 670m². On the west side, there is a parking area where three vehicles can be parked. On the south side, a shady esplanade leads to a vast paved terrace and to the main entrance door. The garden is extended with a swimming pool and a sun-bathing area. Beyond the dry-stone retaining walls, in the shade of Mediterranean vegetation that creates a cosy atmosphere, there is a former washing place, a fountain and several small gardens, including the guesthouse's garden. The villa has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. Its elevations are coated with white rendering and are punctuated with green louvred shutters. Two wings extend it on its east and west sides. Each one has a first floor. And outhouses extend its north side and lead out onto a court with a shelter. The roofs of barrel tiles are underlined with double-row génoise cornices. These roofs have either a single slope or two slopes. The edifice's different sections reveal its different stages of construction, the oldest of which dates back to a period before 1860.
The villaThe villa offers a 360m² floor area with seven bedrooms. Two of these bedrooms are currently used as an office and a reading room respectively. The edifice has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor, as well as two wings with a first floor and separate entrances. It also includes a workshop, a storeroom and outbuildings that could be converted. So the total indoor floor area actually reaches 486m², excluding the property's chapel and guesthouse.
The ground floor
The villa's entrance door is on the building's east side. It leads to a dining room and a lounge with a fireplace of pink-and-white-mottled marble. The space is bathed in natural light from two windows. On the west side, there are two connecting lounges. They have arched French windows. These lounges extend the first reception rooms. The exposed beams that run across the ceiling and the floors of marble square tiles and cement tiles patterned with small square inserts give this series of reception rooms a bright, noble appearance. From the main lounge and through a hallway, you reach a cold ...
