Rural France accommodation, heart of the Provence

Environment

Living for a year here without water and electricity has made us very respectful of our environment and has made us realise how fragile and beautiful it is.

Our house is over 200 years old. The ecological restoration lets the house breathe so you can enjoy the benefits of natural materials. Walls and ceilings are insulated with hemp, slaked lime and pumice. This mixture allows the walls to breathe and allows for flexibility in the stone.

We recycle all waste generated by the family and guests.

We have 150m3 of water tanks to harvest rain run-off from the roofs. This water is used for the garden, the 'potager' and for some domestic use. Winter heating is provided by a wood-fired boiler - heated water is stored in two large accumulators which feed the radiators.

We grow our own vegetables and around the house we have drought-resistant plants to avoid unnecessary use of water. We use energy-saving lightbulbs and radar lighting outside. We only use eco-labeled cleaning products to help reduce pollution in the wastewater. We encourage our guests to be aware of their environmental impact both inside and outside the house.

Community

Hamlets and houses like ours are an important part of the Luberon heritage; our vision for it was to slowly restore the buildings in an environmentally-friendly and ethical way, creating accommodation for guests as a part of that process.

We particularly welcome people who want to spend time in and get an authentic experience of life in the Luberon. We provide a large amount of information about the area and spend time helping you to immerse yourselves in local life. By focusing on those who want to explore the Luberon and its landscape, we hope to encourage people to discover and make a real connection with this land and those who live here.

We have a hectare of fruit trees that we cultivate in collaboration with Dany, our local organic producer. These are predominantly peaches, apricots and almonds. We both sell and dry the fruit.

We encourage all tourists to visit and sample the busy local market in Apt on Saturdays where many products are made locally.

We actively support environmental causes including the local communal Lucisol solar power installation.