Down a narrow lane from the old fishing village of Cassis, alongside vineyards with high stone walls and wooded slopes, is a farmhouse that dates back 200 years.
Its location high up in the hills overlooking the coastal village and all the way out to sea makes it the perfect holiday home for a French-Moroccan couple, finance professionals who live and work in Paris during the week, as well as their two sons.
The former farmhouse had been converted into a holiday home during the tourist boom in the 1960s, but fell into disrepair.
Designed by David Price, founder of David Price Design, jewel-box colours and subtle patterns inspired by Hispanic-Moroccan influences breathe new life into this old farmhouse in the south of France.
Driveway
The house is very private, like a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered down a winding lane.
Kitchen
David and his team began by reimagining the flow of the house in aesthetic and practical terms.
“Even though the property was a sizeable 6,458 sq ft (599 sqm), we decided to extend it to create the full sense of space and light,” he explains.
The new layout includes a kitchen, dining room, living space and terrace on the ground floor that are interlinked to form a vista all the way through to the sea-facing end of the living area and the new swimming pool beyond.
Giopato & Coombes feature pendant lights – made up of clear glass spheres in various sizes – give the kitchen an airy and ephemeral quality.
New Roof
The property has a new roof and this kitchen courtyard “tower” conceals the point where the roof guttering comes together.
Dining Room
The dining light feature comprises five glass and metal shades in various shapes and colours from Roll & Hill.
“It was a real pleasure to find such great pieces, and for the white of the house to work almost as an art gallery setting for them,” says Nina, about the lighting scheme of the abode.
Mediterranean Style House
New window frames and shutters were added throughout the house and painted a fresh blue mirroring the Mediterranean Sea.
Living Room
The living room is furnished with two stone-coloured sofas with wooden legs from Porada, upholstered in fabric by Casamance.
Flower cushions with fabric from Manuel Canovas add a summer-house feel
Old Spanish Doors
Architecturally salvaged doors were rehung in the best position, including these double Spanish doors for the back kitchen.
Designer Furniture
Other furniture in the living room include two small marble-topped Ziggy tables from Porada, and a sculptural Aria chair.
Provence Style Garden
The garden was re-planned and planted by designer Benjamin Burzio, based on a brief by David Price Design.
Provence Style Interior Design
While the main house is in a more controlled palette of white, the guest wing is a little more colourful, adorned with classic Provencal imagery of flowers and fruit in an elegant and chic style.
It houses four guestrooms and bathrooms, as well as a kitchen-dining room.
Each guest room has been decorated in a different theme, including one with a wooden four-poster style bed with green curtains and a leaf pattern, and another with a wrought-iron bed and colourful botanical fabric cushions.
Staircase
This staircase was created in the west of France by an artisan friend of the owner. The wrought iron balustrade was made-to measure by a local ferronnier (blacksmith).
“It was important that the stairs were not made of concrete but of solid stone, so that it looks as though it has been there as long as the house,” David explains.
Master Bathroom
The freestanding master bath overlooks the pool and coast, with tall basins, matching mirrors and pendant lights on either side creating a symmetrical composition.
This article first appeared on Sona Decor in 2017.