Perched at the top of a hill in Provence is a villa where everything has been designed for a barefoot living in an über-cool environment.
The interior designer and co-founder of Honoré Décoration, Ingrid Giribone has imagined her version of the provençal “cabanon” and the result is amazing!
We absolutely loved working on this project with Ingrid and her brainchild deserves getting published in all the prestigious design magazines.
When we started the project, the cottage was small old-fashioned (in the wrong sort of way) and basic. The 80m2 home had a very ugly veranda that blocked the 180° view. The pool looked old and sad.
The main asset of this home was its incredible views on the vineyards and the sea. The project consisted in starting by cleaning and gutting the house and removing the ugly veranda to open up the dominant views.
The talented designer imagined a home inspired by 70’s architecture, Australian design and the usage of upcycled materials.
The result is worthy of our efforts and we are particularly proud of this collaboration.
For BLR International, the project was pretty challenging : beyond the renovation of the building structure and the replacement of the roof, the floors walls and ceilings definitely took us out of our comfort zone! The application of plywood cladding on the walls and sloping ceilings was a first for us, not to mention the laying of Lucerne paving stone on the floors and walls of the living room which gives it an unparalleled luminous and Californian effect. Our workers excelled in ideas to lay the paving on the floor and on the walls: as if they had to solve a giant 3D puzzle. The terrace was built on stilts to extend the living area, with the added bonus of incredible views.
The bathrooms are as stunning as they are timeless: the use of enamelled iron for sinks (found on Etsy!) is as ingenious as it is aesthetic, and the choice of copper fittings gives us a hint of the trends to come… After all , Honoré Décoration is at the forefront of interior design. The upcycled tiles in the bathrooms were from a vintage website and strangely resemble the bathrooms of the 70s. But mixed with the modernity of the home and the talent of the owner, these tiles have found a new life.
We advocated the use of “invisible” doors to clear the whitewashed walls. Ingrid Giribone chose to apply a whitewashed chalky render to the walls to give them an uneven style that catches the Provençal sunlight. Heating and air conditioning is provided by a heat pump with a ducted network that erases all traces of technology. Now a wood burning stove dominates the living room for cosy winter evenings by the fireplace.
The exterior render is an earthy colour that makes the house disappear into its green cradle. In the garden, the swimming pool has found new life thanks to its structural renovation, making it shallower and the use of a waterproof coating with earthy tones. Ingrid chose a crazy stone paving from the Lot Valley for the terraces and even used them to create the steps of the swimming pool.
The timeless pieces found here and there and the original creations of Ingrid and Honoré Décoration have transformed this rather unsightly cottage into a modern, warm and airy holiday home.
Finally, this renovation demonstrates once again that there is never a lost cause for an “ugly” house. What do you think?
Design & Architecture : Ingrid Giribone
Furniture & décoration : Honoré Déco
Construction & renovation : BLR International
Photos : BLR International, Honoré Déco, Aurélie Lièvre @mamarosa._
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