The Mons House Facilities
Sleeps 10 people (12 including private mezzanine floor) in either double or single beds.
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My house, at 31 Rue Pierre Porre, has a date stone of 1650 over the door. It is a Maison Village, in Le Var’s highest Village Perché – a village house in a perched village.
Although I have installed modern amenities, the house has been left in true Provence style, unchanged for hundreds of years. In the kitchen a large modern cooking range and modern implements contrast with the original bread oven and tiny sink – no longer used! – which have been there for centuries. Even the long dining table and benches are original and a little rickety. Sadly they may not last much longer, but I will try to preserve them as long as possible!
Through the long kitchen, steps lead up into the lounge, with an original Provence tiled floor. Again I have preserved this floor, although many of the tiles have cracked over the years the colour, texture and patina are to be enjoyed. A large open Provence fireplace for the Winter months adds to the enjoyment of coming home. Even the South of France is cold in the Winter! As a concession to modern life, Sky Televison and DVD player are installed – but these are viewed via a projector that displays onto the fireplace wall.
From the lounge the original staircase leads up to a mezzanine library floor. Although a study area, a reading, relaxing area, the mezzanine is a private space and provides a sixth bedroom, with either double or two single beds accommodated.
There are five more bedrooms – either double or two single beds - accessed by classic Provencale staircases with ‘tomate’ tiled floors. The bedroom on the fourth floor of the house leads directly onto the terrace – and waking up with the most spectacular view in Le Var out of your window is an experience not to be missed.
There are two bathrooms (and a separate downstairs toilet). One of the bathrooms has the most modern of fixtures and fittings – contrasted to ancient olive oil pots set into the walls which were used over the centuries to store oil for cooking. The second bathroom has original fixtures and fittings.
A large roof terrace is the ideal place to dine al fresco, or to barbecue. The view is breathtaking and, with the legendary Provence light, changes from hour to hour. Cannes and the Mediterranean are clearly visible thirty-five kilometres away. On spectacularly clear days the island of Corsica can be seen on the horizon – almost a hundred kilometres away!"
Lydie, the housekeeper, lives nearby in the village and will tend to the cleaning and the laundry before, during and after your stay.
What visitors have said.
Helen Cuenod.
Health Service Manager, Norway
"All good things have an end - unfortunately. This evening is the last evening we are having in your wonderful house in Mons.
We want to express our warmest thanks that you trusted us to rent your house during our wedding celebration. We have loved this house from the first moment and all our guest have appreciated it as well. We are all impressed by what you have done to this house. How you have restored it with care and skill. We are all impressed by how you have managed to take good care of the old house, and still make it a modern house. The mixture of old and new is brilliant. And indeed we have all appreciated your pieces of art. They are so different - and all of them are wonderful in their own way.
Our wedding was a beautifull experience very much thanks to you. You did recomend the restaurant Les deux Rocks, The surroundings and the atmosphere could not have been better. And indeed the food was excellent. Even the spoilt frenchman thought it could not be better! We owe you a great thank you for your part in making this a wonderful time for us.
So tomorrow we put the key in the mail box and leave for Norway.
Again - thank you so much for letting us live in your house. It has been a wonderful experience."
Ben Thomas.
Theatre Director/writer
"Although I have travelled to many places in my life, the two weeks spent at the Art Lover’s House was my first visit to this part of France. It was worth the trip just to experience the drive to Mons, let alone staying in this beautiful house and village.
The motorway drive from Nice Airport gives no inkling of what happens when Junction 39 on the A8 gives way to increasingly winding roads, ever more breathtaking views and eventually to what I understand is the highest village in Provence. Rarely these days can one take an authentic step back in time, without the hindrance of pastiche. Mons is the real thing.
And the Art Lover’s House is the perfect place for a combination of pure relaxation and the quiet indulgence of art – whatever form that takes.
Anyone – whether a fine art enthusiast, writer, photographer, painter – would enjoy time spent in this beautiful, rambling and rather eccentric house. The library of art-books and the paintings, drawings and ceramics make the stay extra special. A creative space, in a spectacular place and yet so close to many fine galleries exhibiting an eclectic range of art, from the great masters to simple artisans."
Tony Forster.
Type designer.
"If it is time to reflect that you are looking for, then the Art Lover’s House in Mons will be perfect for you.
From the moment that you walk through the aged front door it is obvious that this is a real, private home, which makes it so different from houses that are usually available for renting. Richard – the owner – made it plain in our discussions before travelling to Mons that he would like to be there permanently…and I don’t blame him! It is lucky for me, my wife and friends that he isn’t and that the house is available a good deal of the year.
Although a base to travel to the many fine galleries and discover the paintings and sculpture so prevalent in the Var region, the house itself has a personal art collection which is a joy to live with – if only for a couple of weeks at a time!
After a day visiting galleries, workshops and the extraordinarily beautiful villages in the region, coming home to a view of the Med and the Esterel mountains from the roof terrace at dusk is not to be missed. Before retreating inside to browse the art books in front of a log fire, along with a glass of fine red wine!"
Trevor Wootton.
Chef.
"My fascination with fine art has been a life long passion. The first time I visited the Art Lover’s House I knew that I had found somewhere to indulge this fascination. I have been back several times over the past couple of years with groups of friends and each time we find something new in the area. Perhaps that is not surprising, because the exhibitions in the galleries around – from Bargemon to Vence – offer new works on an astonishingly regular basis. We also regularly find extraordinary public works of art and sculpture of the highest standard. Throughout the year there are music festivals and performances, the most spectactular of which are performed in the village churches. Mediaeval acoustics are second to none!
The Art Lover’s House is a place to be at home, if only for a couple of weeks at a time. And my own relaxation in the evenings? Well, I’m a chef. So it seems that cooking for 8, 10, or 12 in the house is what I am destined for. But if you visit, also enjoy the local produce. The market in Fayence nearby, is a work of spectacular art in itself!"
Simon Naylor.
Actor.
"As a group of friends – mostly from student days at drama school – the Art Lover’s House provides both ideal practical accommodation and a creative atmosphere in which to discuss ideas of the day, just be quiet, or enjoy a long dinner on the spectacular roof terrace.
We have visited several times now, although the groups have been supplemented each time by different friends who have heard us talk about Var, Mons and the house. The most extraordinary thing is that nothing has changed for hundreds of years. And I guess that can only breed the tranquility of the place. Actors are not usually the quietest groups of people, but even we can appreciate the calm of the place and in the evenings will often sit with a fire lit, watch a good DVD or scour the bookshelves.
Out and about is always a surprise, whether that’s during the day or in the evening. At a classical concert in Seillans Church recently, the soprano singing a final encore of the aria from Madame Butterfly spontaneously walked along the aisle, out of the church and carried on singing and walking through the tiny streets of the village. A piece of ‘theatre’ we all wished we could have enacted.
Whatever your passion for the arts, the Art Lover’s House is the place to stay to indulge that passion.