Maison à vendre, 740m², Avignon

Description

The private mansion extends over the easement of two land parcels facing east-west, which divides the building complex into two very different entities in terms of the dwelling’s overall composition. As for the edifice’s Renaissance-era façade, dating from the 16th century, it features an immaculate central composition: transom windows flanked by pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals, as well as moulded cornices and corbels decorated with foliage located directly above. Although this façade seems to have been constructed over a building from an earlier era, the mansion itself was built in 1549 by the squire Robert de Calvière, Lord of Boucoiran, mentioned in book I of the “Nobility of the Languedoc”, but vestiges do exist connecting the dwelling to the Templars’ commandery, dating from the 12th century. Today, the dwelling is made up of three structures, ranging in height, whereas its southern façade well as its perpendicular wing, facing the town hall, were refurbished in the 19th century, despite the fact that décor, from a much earlier period, has been unearthed inside. On the complex’s southeastern corner, a sort of square tower, accessible via a colossal spiral staircase, contains the dwelling’s inhabitable section, while further to the west another part of its exterior boasts Doric pilasters, integrated columns with Corinthian capitals, mullioned windows, a dentil cornice and ornate corbels. In addition, the dwelling once featured a Renaissance-era fireplace supported by two caryatids, with an entablature decorated with helmets, armour, stacks of weapons and cannons mounted on four wheels. Although the fireplace was sold, several stunning Renaissance-era decorative details, scattered throughout the dwelling’s interior, still exist, such as an impressive, and fullly restored, spiral staircase. Out of the architectural complex’s approximately 740 m² of floor area, about 240 m² were restored in the edifice’s southeastern section, while the rest is partially and, even in some places, completely in ruins. It should be noted that although an unsafe building order was recently expunged thanks to the addition of a temporary roof, which protects the majority of the building from water damage, significant renovations and refurbishments will need to be undertaken in this part of the edifice. The Inhabitable Portion Restored and made inhabitable once again, over a floor area of approximately 240 m², this part of the dwelling is located in the southeast corner tower. The latter is accessible via a monumental, 16th-century spiral staircase, the base of which can be found in the courtyard-patio, of approximately 30 m². Boasting three storeys, topped with an attic level, the tower, divided into four floors, of approximately 60 m² each, contains a ground-floor bedroom-study, facing the base of the spiral staircase, two bedrooms on the first floor, one of which is larger than the other and comes with a bathroom and a lavatory, a second-floor bedroom and its antechamber with a bathroom and, lastly, in the converted attic level, a dining room-kitchen, which provides access to a roof terrace with views of the village’s belltower and chateau. The Portion in Ruins Made up of two edifices, to be rebuilt in their entirety, this portion of the dwelling still feature traces of its many additions and demolitions, which can be read like so many archaeological layers from different and storied eras, while, here and there, former state rooms still preserve several moving details, tucked within a doorway or a nook in the wall, such as the breath-taking vestiges of early 15th-century frescoes depicting a hunt in the Gard countryside, illustrated by several canine figures held back by their leashes, but ready to pounce on their prey. In addition, several ancient ceilings with visible beams still remain, as do several wooden doors opening on to the tower’s spiral staircase, whereas this portion of the edifice is also accessible via a courtyard-patio, separate from the first, which abuts the neighbouring church’s walls.