MA House, Ansouis, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, French Residential Architecture Images, South of France
MA House in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
22 Oct 2022
Design: Studio XM
Location: Ansouis, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France

Photos: Simone Bossi Photographer
MA House, France
My family bought land in South of France?s Vaucluse department in the early 2000s. At the time, a small farmhouse sitting in the forest nearby had been weathering away for more than a decade. MA House stood on its hill, fading comfortably into the landscape.

When my parents approached me to rebuild it we were sitting within eye-sight of the dilapidated structure. It was still soft in its ruinous state, a reminder of the qualities of its surroundings. We had spoken about the project before but the timing had not been right. That summer, and throughout the two years that followed, I worked to bring it back to life ? infusing it with the monastic qualities that make this valley so special.
Respectful of its surroundings the house was designed to be an intimate refuge buried in the hills ? one that would respect the site and the architectural history of the region. It sits at the base of a small, tree-covered hill in the middle of the French country-side. When summer comes around it progressively nestles itself in the forest, without ever losing views of the vineyard below.

The existing structure was carefully dismembered in phases. The footprint and envelope were revised but stay...