Villa Varoise

By Francesco Pagliari - 4 May 2021

Located in the beautiful Var countryside in southern France, the program of Villa Varoise is the outcome of an in-depth study into how innovative architectural composition can be blended into a specific geographical site - in this case, a sloping terrain, and the colors and light of a Mediterranean setting where traditional vineyards and trees are still a feature of a countryside now covered by large swathes of holiday homes.
The brief included demanding yet contrasting requirements. The vacation home had to feature seven bedrooms, making it a sort of dortoir familial. It was also required to be both secluded from the outside world yet open to the sweeping views all around.
The architectural program has successfully mediated between these opposites. Slotted into its sloping plot where gradients range from very gentle to steep, the building slips into its setting of residual stretches of farmed land, ocher colored soil, and rocky outcrops basking in the Mediterranean light. Taking its cue from the age-old courtyard plan, the new construction becomes another “natural” feature, its many articulated perspectives and interconnections meeting the contrasting demands of privacy and openness.
Two diverging L-shaped wings form an open rhomboid-format court with an unusual geometrically shaped swimming pool. In keeping with the building’s overall stratified layout, the courtyard stands on a mid-level between the upper and lower arms of the L-shaped volume. Appropriately, the two wings serve different occupant requirements.
The access to the house is from the top of the plot via a pathway paved with light-colored flagstones and protected by an elegant metal railing. The entrance hall separates the master bedroom in the north-facing volume from the continuous sequence of community spaces (living room and dining area) in the volume lying on a northwest-southeast axis. Full-height glazed sliding doors open out towards...