A Special Treat - Hotel Particulier

It's not what you know, but who you know!! Recently we were in a unique position of being invited to view one of the very grand homes in Aix en Provence. The fellow we rent our apartment from very generously invited us to walk through the grand historic home (a friend of a friend sort of thing). It was luxuriously furnished inside and it had a large formal garden - very rare for a private home in central Aix. It was spectacular. The home was so unassuming from the front. One could be forgiven for thinking it was just a group of apartments. Armed with this knowledge we have realised there are many of these grand homes which we have been walking past each day, none the wiser!! .

From the experience we have learnt to look for the indicators of a grand mansion. In France, these grand historic homes are referred to as "a hôtel particulier"; an urban "private house" of a grand style, which when built were often free standing.

This home, called Hotel D'Olivary, was built in the 17th Century in the Mazairin Quartier of Aix en Provence, outside of the original city rampants (at the time a rural area). Now it is in the centre of town. We were made aware of the enormous upkeep required for such a property. Apparently 6 of the 7 children who were in line to inherit the property did not want the financial burden of owning and maintaining such an asset.

Since our visit, we have discovered that photographs of the home are in many well respected publications. We have attached a couple of our own images to share with you !!