Sensitive to the raw charm of Provence, Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet fell in love with an old bastide planted with 6 hectares of vines in the Luberon 25 years ago. They quickly transformed the place into an estate where a superb family home, a delicious restaurant, a cellar where fine wines are produced, then exceptional properties and, since this autumn, an agricultural farm and a large permaculture garden. Everything as if it had always been there. And therein lies the magic of their savoir-faire.

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Ten years after laying the foundation stone for Les Fermes de Marie, Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet were keen to create another place of their own, but in the South of France. Jean-Louis, who had spent his early childhood on a farm, had in mind a place with links to the vine and the land. Both were immediately attracted by a large 18th-century family bastide.

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This large, elegant country house is an invitation to stroll: in the shade of its walls or fragrant gardens, or in the charming villages and markets nearby.

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The DNA of Old Stone

Set in 6 hectares of vineyards, the bastide, purchased in 1998, underwent a year of renovation before opening. Of course, if everything seems to have always been there, with the refined elegance and charm of imperfection that they love so much, they're completely rethinking it, always following the same thread, that of pleasure and the art of living, which is tinged according to the location, as Nicolas Sibuet confides.

In 1998, Jean-Louis and "his boys" from Megève set about renovating and redistributing the space, as well as building the two swimming pools, one of which is a former water retention basin. To do this, they salvaged hundreds of stones from the restanques. The paving in the courtyard of the bastide and around the gardens comes from stones collected from the vineyards.

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As for Jocelyne, she draws her inspiration from the natural materials, the white stone from Ménerbes, the tommettes, the beautiful floor tiles, the soft colors and the romantic feel of this grand residence. An object enthusiast, she hunts for old Provençal, Baroque and 18th-century furniture with the patina of time at markets in and around the south of France, including nearby Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and draws inspiration from the collections of the Museon Arlaten, in Arles, dedicated to Provence, to find that old-fashioned, bohemian touch, elegant and country without ever being too stuffy or bourgeois. Like when she decided to cover the baroque sofas and armchairs in the grand salon with denim, the origin of which is Nîmes twill, hence the name.

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In 1999, La Bastide de Marie opened. The following year, it was the turn of the cellar, built in six months by Jean Louis with an architect friend, the same one with whom he designed Les Fermes." I knew nothing about wine or vines, so I learned everything on the job," he recounts. Like with the cellar, which we designed with everything we needed inside. I set off with my head held high. That's my adventurous side, I always set off like that, and that's what keeps me going.

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As luck would have it, he met Arnaud Bressy, the cellar master who was just completing his studies at the time, and worked with him to design a beautiful vineyard to produce his wine. As soon as a plot became available, he bought it and planted or replanted vines.

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A Passion for the Earth

Nicolas Sibuet was 17 at the time, and came to harvest with his friends. Marie was 13. Both know the area inside out, having grown up and lived there. It's an estate that's close to the family's heart, and everyone loves to spend time here to recharge their batteries. And as Nicolas shares the same passion for botany and working the land as his father, he is further developing the plant side of the estate with the creation of a farm, which has just been completed. A contemporary concrete farm building, planted and buried, to be as neutral as possible in the landscape of this estate located in the Luberon Regional Nature Park. "What's the point of being in nature if you don't want to sublimate it," he says.

The idea? To create a living, connected estate, on a human scale, where nature is fully experienced. In addition to the agricultural farm, a large permaculture garden has been planted, and is growing every year.

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Here, under the unchanging Provencal sun, between vines, lavender, beehives, truffle oaks and olive trees, fig and pomegranate trees and aromatic and medicinal plants grow, to be savored at chef François Martin's table, but also in infusions and herbal teas, or in the treatments of the Pure Altitude spa. In other words, a garden of Eden to be experienced and tasted, as from next year at the cellar's agricultural restaurant, in addition to the wine tasting and oenotheque, where you can discover a winegrower's cuisine, composed in perfect harmony with the wines that will be worked into reductions, juices and jellies, as well as the estate's market garden produce.

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A beautiful story, or rather an adventure in the art of living, which is still being written, as the Sibuet family is working on the forthcoming creation of two new exceptional villas, to be enjoyed with a light spirit and dedicated, made-to-measure service, as well as a charming stone hamlet offering some fifteen new rooms, which will make you think they've always been there, on this estate in the heart of nature and Provence.