In Visan, a village house in the Drôme Provençale

“Come up!” Don't pay attention to the mess! “, says Agathe Perroy, gathering things scattered on the passenger seat and the back seat of her city car. We drive through the vineyards of Vaucluse. Mont Ventoux and the rocky massifs of the Dentelles de Montmirail stand out against the big blue sky. The road runs alongside some olive groves, rows of cypresses, patches of pine forests and oak forests. As you enter the Drôme, the reliefs of the Baronnies and the crests of the Lance appear on the horizon. “The enclave of the Popes is a small piece of Vaucluse in the heart of Drôme Provençale”, explains the driver.

This interior designer spent her vacations for a long time in a family home located in the surrounding area, in Gigondas, before leaving her Parisian routine, three years ago, to settle in this South which is so dear to her . The project began during the first confinement, when she came across an ad for a house for sale, furnished, in the town of Visan, about ten kilometers from Vaison-la-Romaine. In the photos, she spots open cabinets lined with piles of laundry and lavender sachets.

This image from Epinal transports her. She decides to sell her apartment in the XX^e district of Paris, acquired the stone building and undertook a major renovation project with craftsmen from the region. After eight months, the house is ready to welcome friends and first guests in four beautiful rooms.

Salt water “Trempadou”

“Here we are in the rue des Nobles”, announces Agathe Perroy, while the car enters the ramparts of Visan, along a row of private mansions. A few wealthy residents come to seek a little peace, part of the year, in these vast residences built between the Renaissance and the 18th century.^e century. The surname of an Australian actress and that of an Argentinian family are rumored, among others. La Perroya – a name mischievously derived from that of the owner – was built later and in several stages, probably between the end of the 19th^e century and the 1980s, a stone's throw from the church.

A large wooden porch opens onto a patio hidden from view. Small tables and deck chairs have been arranged in the shade of a beautiful mulberry tree, facing a summer kitchen. At the bottom of the courtyard, Agathe Perroy had a small pond dug, a soak, as they say in Provençal. Too narrow for swimming, it nevertheless allows you to immerse yourself in salt water to cool off on hot days. Inside, the old furniture that belonged to the previous owners – bonnetières, a dresser, straw chairs, a dressing table with a marble top, among others – has been redistributed throughout the spaces.

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