Welcome to Château la Coste. Vineyards surrounding a 17th century property are no surprise in France, even if the land is in Provence. But a rose-colored villa in the middle of wooded rolling hills, olive groves and vines as far as the eye can see IS an anomaly, given that the property includes commissions by some of the 20th and 21st centuries greatest talents in art and architecture.
The idea came about in 2004, when the owners of the Château thought to transform their property into a place where art, architecture and land came together. The idea had already been successfully tried in the Basque city of Álava, headquarters to the delicious Vinos del Marqués de Riscal, where Frank Gehry was commissioned to build a wonderful hotel. But in France, the owners wanted something extra and so the idea came to invite artists and architects from all over the world to visit the property, explore the landscape and to find a place within the estate that spoke to them and freely create something that would live there.
The result is fabulous and highly recommended by some very chic and reliable close friends. Because it is still relatively new, the walk is far from catering to the hordes of tourists and is therefore VERY enjoyable – for now. Lasting about 2 hours, one walks amongst the vines, olive trees, lake and old aqueduct into discovering works by architects Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Jean Prouvé and others as well as a number of artists including Richard Serra, Louise Bourgeois, Sean Scully, Alexander Calder and Hiroshi Sugimoto.
This is definitely on my list for a future trip to the south of France. It looks so delightful!
image credits: (Calder mobile) – Tom Cannavan for Wine-Pages.com; all others Château la Coste, France.
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PS: Thank you for stopping by and reading my feature today. I love what I do as an interior designer and art advisor, and it’s my hope that through these blog posts I’m enriching and heightening your aesthetic sensibility towards art, design and fabulous interiors in some way ~ Richard Rabel (a.k.a. the modern sybarite)