Location: Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, France

Interior Design: Patrizia Massart & Olivier Massart

It’s been a minute, folks! We spent the better part of last year launching a new website and the journal you’re reading this article on, which was an all-hands-on-deck affair where we challenged and personified so many aspects of Lekker. We hope you find new corners of our digital presence more reflective of our showroom and who we’ve always been. Now, we’re finally back here on the journal to inspire, discuss, and discover new corners of the design world in our backyard and beyond. And with the current state of the world, we could all use a little dreaming to escape our minds, and distract ourselves with lightness and leisure that every human being deserves.

So today, we want to bring you a peaceful scene of Provence, France – its lavender fields, vineyards, and unrelenting sun. Specifically the Luberon region of Provence at the Les Andéols hotel.

Here this luxurious escape operates as an intersection of culture and nature, designed by Patrizia Massart & Olivier Massart, and is composed of suites and villas that each have a different interior, atmosphere, and even scent.

And the Massarts are uniquely qualified to paint an artistic picture for a hospitality experience: Patrizia is an interior designer, and Olivier is the founder of La Mode en Images, a luxury events company that produces fashion shows, international events, and art exhibitions working with the likes of the late Virgil Abloh, Valentino, Balenciaga, Dior, and more. 

The most tactile way their expertise echoes onto the grounds of Les Andéols is through the transformation of their art collection into the hotel’s display, with over 250 paintings, photographs, and furniture pieces used throughout the space from their personal collection. Beyond the artistic throughline, the hotel is marked by two distinct experiences: Nature Suites and independent Villas. The Nature Suites are in direct conversation with nature, immersed into the natural landscape of the Luberon, opening directly onto rolling lavender fields and groves of olive and cypress trees.

Each suite has a similar layout, complete with a bedroom and lounge area, luxe bathroom with pocket doors, and a view of the grounds with sun loungers and bistro seating, but the color palette and furniture are specific to the suite. We'd be happy living strictly in this blue bathroom for the rest of our lives or spending our days reading through books strewn across the Noguchi Table. 

No matter what your vacation or rest framework looks like, the design of these Nature Suites offers comfort, landscape, and high design all in one. I mean, how many times in your life can you be sitting across from someone you love in matching Eames Lounges while eating truffles and drinking locally-sourced Provence wine?  

Now the larger siblings of the suites, the Villas of Les Andélos, offer a more private experience with 11 free-standing houses that are all named, often with elaborate private pools, terraces, and multiple floors. Here are a few of our favorites:

The Maison Rouge is referred to as the most modern of the Andéols villas, with a special concentration of colorful yet classic design icons – like the larger-than life Ron Arad sofa, Bertoia Diamond Chairs, and Barcelona Table. Plus, a Uriburu painting to ogle over when you're not busy soaking up the private pool and terrace.

The Maison Blanche was designed as a more restrained retreat with a mostly white interior, designed by the duo as a place where "mysticism, relaxation, meditation blend into one." Although a single tone, multiple textures, fabrics, and materials meet to create a layered design experience. Adding to that serious yet serene feeling are pieces like the Noguchi Pendant, Saarinen Dining Table, Barcelona Couch and chairs – all very light in appearance but with expert construction and years of craftsmanship mastery behind them. 

And finally, we arrive at The Maison de L'artiste, the artist's house! A big focus at Les Andéols is to create an environment not only for those desiring vacation but one that is also conducive to workshops, artist residencies, and more. Here the simple, almost quiet design allows space for those who desire to concentrate without distraction.

And who wouldn't feel some divine inspiration in the air with Picasso painting in a David Douglas Duncan photograph beside you at dinner? Mentally or in some alternate reality, you can find us here from now on, sipping a latte and sitting on a Montmartre Chair by Fermob, wishing the world could be as beautiful as the view from Les Andéols. 

Want to explore more of Les Andéols? Visit here. 

All photography by Les Andéols