Pezenas
Here’s something new for your travel bucket list. Rodwin Architecture recently had the unique opportunity to complete a delicate top-to-bottom remodel of a 450-year-old historic townhome in the center of one of the most charming towns on the planet. The 1,600-square-foot, three-story stone building is situated in downtown Pezenas, a vibrant town of 8,000 people surrounded by vineyards, near Montpellier, and just 20 minutes from the beautiful beaches of the Mediterranean.
The simple but elegant three-bedroom townhome overlooks a pair of ancient fountains, buzzing cafés, and the thousand-year-old city gate. The bustling pedestrian plaza below happily hums with locals making the daily rounds—picking up fresh croissants in the morning, meeting friends at one of the many sprawling street cafés for a quick cappuccino, or gathering in the afternoon for an apéro before heading home for dinner.
The town is constantly filled with music festivals, incredible food, a robust local arts scene, and amazing farmers markets. The tree-filled town is the home of the famous playwright Molière. The streets are all cobblestone, and strolling from plaza to plaza is an art form. The buildings form an orderly and harmonious border along the winding avenues; the air is soft and filled with honeysuckle and jasmine, and the light is… well, it’s southern France. Best of all, it hasn’t really been discovered yet.
For the townhome itself, we completely re-organized the wildly dysfunctional floor plan and updated the dilapidated finishes. We brought in local historic restoration expert craftsmen; uncovered original tiles; repaired the beamwork and re-plastered the sensuous corkscrew stair. We repaired and rehung the original windows and shutters, rebuilt the electrical system, and redesigned the kitchen and bathrooms from scratch to meet modern standards. We added HVAC, making the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter for the first time in its history, while 100% preserving the entire historic exterior. Mind you, we had to employ a lot of not-so-sharp high school French and navigate the cultural complexities—and very different pace—of completing a remodel eight time zones away.
You can even stay there if you like, and live the dream yourself!
Designed by Rodwin Architecture.