Private mansion with garden Uzès (30)
A vast, 17th century, stately residence adjoining a fuedal castle on the outskirts of Uzès. This vast, comfortable 17th century mansion house was built on the site of the old tower belonging to Uzès’ Duke of Crussol. Facing the current village castle, its site is reminiscent of the wonderful homes of the numerous lords surrounding the Duchy of Uzès. Topped with a dovecote, visible from afar and bearing witness to the fact that its co-owners were lords, this residence is set out around a little courtyard, bordered by an old road leading inside the ramparts of the fortress, now transformed into a little Mediterranean garden amidst the surrounding towers and buildings. The two, south and north-facing buildings are connected by two covered balcony corridors on the first and second levels laid out around the courtyard. The wide, symmetrical, south facade, overlooking the pedestrian square, has two completely different facings. The ground floor is composed of simply hewn limestone blocks, whilst the first and second levels are constituted from dressed molasse (a type of sandstone), embellished here and there with limestone, particularly for the cornice enhancing the four large windows on the first level, the lintels of which outline the arches. The small-paned, casement windows fitted with double folding shutters on the first or noble floor elegantly contrast with the simplicity of the openings on the ground floor, on either side of the impressive, rusticated masonry entrance door. The eaves protrude over small windows aligned with those on the first level. The facades on the courtyard side are very similar in appearance, except that the entire ground floor is composed of arcades, just like the Place-aux-Herbes in Uzès, and that the north building features two mullioned windows on its south and west sides. All the roofs are covered with old Roman tiles.
… $1,562,100
By Patrice Besse
