|
Mas Capon is a year-round vacation home located just west of St. Rémy de Provence, "The Heart of Provence". The mas sleeps 6-10 in four bedrooms. An ground floor bedroom facilitates a multi-generational family vacation. Indoor and outdoor spaces - including the gardens, pool and pool house - are designed for casual, comfortable living for up to three couples or two families with kids.
The mas is in a protected agricultural zone 2.6 miles west of the village of St. Rémy. All around are orchards, vineyards (3 wineries in walking distance!) and field upon field of lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant and more. It's quiet and peaceful, although you'll surely hear our neighbor's donkeys, chickens and rooster with no sense of time.
Life at Mas Capon was best summed up by one of our first renters, who said: "I've Never Been So Relaxed in My Life"
Choose your own level of activity. Some will want to stay mostly at home. But other options are endless, no matter the time of the year.
St. Rémy is a traditional Provencal village which has resisted the charms of McDonald's, Body Shop, Benetton and other multi-national chains. (The only "chain" store in town is a hairdresser!) Van Gogh lived, painted and treated his lost ear in St Rémy: the village church is the one in "La Nuit Étoilée" ("The Starry Night"). St. Rémy and environs have 15,000 residents - and over 70 places to eat - with interesting shopping and a spectacular Wednesday morning market.
Nearby are incredible outdoor markets (at least one for each day of the week), Roman ruins, castles and walled towns, walks in the Alpilles, traditional festivals and dozens of unique villages. Visit Avignon, Arles or Aix-en Provence. Shop hundreds of antique dealers at Isle-sur-la-Sourgue after the town's Sunday morning market. Wonder at the Pont du Gard. Experience the incredible wildlife of the Camargue, its miles of sandy beaches and the old-fashioned beach town of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, just 45 minutes away.
Mas Capon is the ancestral farm of the family Bouterin. The mas (farmhouse) dates from the 1500's. The "new" wing, built in 1750, once housed the farm's stables, hayloft, bakery and winery. Uninhabited and nearly derelict in 1996, it was purchased from the family in 1996, with renovation completed three years later (at least as much as renovation of a 250 year old building can ever be considered "completed"!) The heated pool and its pool house were added in 2000.
With massive stone walls and wood beams, Mas Capon has been decorated using country furnishings and the traditional colors of Provence - of the earth, sun and sky. The restoration has been complemented with conveniences including dishwasher, microwave, washer and dryer, and a side-by-side refrigerator with ice-maker. For those who must, there's a big screen TV and fax/answering machine. Central heating warms the winter months. All this makes Mas Capon an exceptionally comfortable place to live. (See the linked website for nearly 100 photos.)
The ground floor contains the séjour, the living and dining room with its massive stone fireplace, and the atelier, long ago the bakery and winery, now another sitting area with an excellent travel library (and that TV.)
With over 100 restaurants within a 15 minute drive, you don't need to use the superbly equipped Provençal country kitchen. The cuisine, though, has been set up to take full advantage of the wonderful offerings of the local markets. The recipes of Provence are simple, healthy and flavorful. (Start with olive oil, garlic and the herbs growing by the barbeque outside the kitchen door.) A library of cookbooks shows the way. The best-seller among them is Cooking Provence, Four Generations of Recipes and Traditions by next door neighbor Antoine Bouterin, now a Manhattan restauranteur, its recipes based on those of his mother and grandmothers. |
