About Mas Respelido
An interior designer and architect duo bring a light touch and love of the region to a historic house near Mouriès, a bucolic village in the South of France, where guests can experience a taste of local life.
Interior designer Liliana Atilova and her husband, architect Alain Meylan, restore historic houses and turn them into elegant, inviting homes like Mas Respelido (and Le Mas Paradou). Set in the olive-growing community of Mouriès, Mas Respelido is a sensitively updated ‘mas’, or farmhouse, a delightfully French fusion of tradition and taste. The main buildings are the mas and the summer house; five of the six ensuite bedrooms are in the mas. One looks out over the 10m-long swimming pool; another has a gorgeous antique copper bathtub; all have walk-in limestone showers and Aesop products. Most materials used throughout the property – from antique furniture to restored beams and traditional clay tiles – have been sourced locally, grounding the mas in its proudly Provençal heritage. Throughout the property, solid stone and air conditioning keep the place deliciously cool even in summer, while three fully functioning fireplaces keep things cosy all year-round. Plus, the pool is heated and the mercury’s rising in the private sauna. Outside, footpaths wind between the mas and the summer house: there’s a rose- and jasmine-scented garden with a century-old plane tree, an outdoor dining space seating four and a pétanque court.
The location:
Set in the picturesque villages dotted throughout Alpilles Natural Regional Park, properties like Mas Respelido provides insight into local life and access to the region’s rural pace. Mouriès is France’s leading olive-growing community, and there’s an annual olive harvest festival every September. Hikers can follow trails through Les Alpilles and local routes that reveal the hidden hilltop castles of Les Baux-de-Provence. Bike and boat rentals are a family-friendly, fun way to see the French countryside; or head south towards the coast for horse riding through the marshes and meadows of the Camargue, France’s wide-open cowboy country.