Timothee Mercier transforms rural French farm constructing into house for his dad and mom

Architect Timothee Mercier of Studio XM has transformed a ruined farm constructing in France into  an “intimate refuge” for his dad and mom.

MA Home is situated in Vaucluse, a picturesque a part of southeast France that boasts vineyards, lavender fields and quaint villages.

It takes over an outdated farmhouse on a plot of land that architect Timothee Mercier’s dad and mom bought again in 2001.

Mercier’s dad and mom initially didn’t get hold of planning permission to show the dilapidated construction into a house, so determined to construct a property on a neighbouring forested hillside.

The farm constructing sat abandoned for an additional 15 years earlier than the native council agreed residential conversion may happen. The dad and mom turned to Mercier to hold out the works.

“Greater than a easy reconstruction, this home was imagined as a renewal,” defined Mercier, who leads his personal structure observe, Studio XM.

“Respectful of the aesthetic constraints and desires of the shoppers the home was designed to be an intimate refuge buried within the hills – one that may respect the positioning and the architectural historical past of the area.”

MA Home sits over the footprint of the farm constructing and has largely been saved to the identical proportions. Stones from the unique construction have been used to type the house’s facade.

A mix of inexperienced and crimson tiles, a few of that are over 30 years outdated, have been utilized throughout the roof.

Michael Viviano designs gabled home for his dad and mom in Houston

Inside, there may be an expansive open-plan dwelling area that Mercier has intentionally completed in a pared-back aesthetic.

“I made a decision early-on to infuse the home with the monastic qualities of its environment,” Mercier informed Dezeen. “It needed to be a spectacle, however a discrete one.”

“The mission tried to remain away from fuss and litter – versatile and open to individuals’s interpretation of intimacy,” he continued.

On one aspect of the dwelling area is a eating room that is centred by a chunky timber desk. The opposite aspect accommodates the kitchen, which has been completed with low-lying oakwood cabinetry.

The countertop has been crafted from grey-blue limestone and plain white pendant lamps dangle from the ceiling.

A splash of color is supplied by a few bright-orange Tembo stools from Notice Design Studio.

On the centre of the dwelling area is a lounge. Throughout the ground there’s rug from French model Codimat, woven to characteristic concentric rust-coloured circles.

Perched on prime are a pair of cane armchairs and a picket espresso desk that was present in a Parisian flea market.

A blocky stone plinth has additionally been inset with white cushions to type a settee. The plinth then dog-legs round a wall to type the primary tread of the house’s staircase.

The sunshine-hued materials palette of the bottom flooring continues upstairs. Mercier used oak wooden and raffia – a sort of palm tree – to create a headboard for the master suite.

Oak has then been used to make the room’s desk, which sits instantly behind a big image window. It is accompanied by a curved, aubergine-coloured chair from Cassina.

One room additionally has a floor-to-ceiling oak storage unit, positioned beside a white daybed.

Within the toilet, the custom-made tub is crafted from Hinoki cypress – a sort of wooden that is native to Japan. A tall pane of glass has additionally been erected to separate the bathe from the remainder of the area.

Sections of the house’s stone exterior have been left uncovered inside the house to type textured surfaces which have then been white-washed with chaux – an area lime plaster.

Timothee Mercier is not the one architect that has designed a home for his mum and pa. Again in 2017, Michael Viviano created a recent gabled home in Houston, Texas for his dad and mom.

The home is stuffed with furnishings items that Vivivano’s mom, an vintage collector, sourced herself.

French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier additionally constructed the revered lakeside house, Villa Le Lac, for his dad and mom.

Images is by Simone Bossi.