The approach to Julie and Daniel Michel’s holiday home in Saint Rémy de Provence in the south of France is along a meandering, bumpy track lined with apple and olive trees. So far, so rustique. The barn at the end of the track, shielded by Cypress trees and a veranda cloaked with wisteria, is similarly pastoral. But all is not as it seems. Slide back the barn doors and a lofty modern space is revealed, complete with steel mezzanine and poured concrete floor.
It wasn’t always like this. When the couple bought the 150m-square barn 15 years ago, and their children, Mathilde, Lucas and Emilie were young, everyone slept on mattresses. Life was a little more basic then. “We loved coming here, cooking dinner on the gas burner and sleeping under…
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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, 1-Aug-2015