Experience the Magic of UZES in a Charming Stone Village House in Montaren et Saint Mediers

We have known and lived in the Uzes area for over twenty years. Our home prior to La Maison Verte was a pied-a-terre on the old ramparts of Uzes 4km away where we spent many happy holidays, some of you may have been lucky enough to stay there too – we are now delighted to welcome you to our new home - La Maison Vert.

We discovered this old stone house tucked away in the village of Montaren et St Mediers, the closest village to Uzes. Montaren’s name comes from the Latin ‘Mons Arena’ which translates as ‘the mountain of sand’. The house had been owned and lived in for some twenty years by an English glass artist who undertook the house renovations around 10 years ago. Trained at the Royal College of Art, she had been involved in the design and creation of some bespoke national glass-works. We found a few tiny pieces of her subtle, eye-catching work at the back of the garage which we have carefully cleaned and placed around the house to be admired.

We fell in love with the charm of the house and its quirky renovation: the glass landing that leads to a snug area where you can snooze and curl up with a book on the floor cushions in this little nook. We loved the two big open fireplaces - currently decommissioned - and quite simply the juxtaposition of how old and new sit so well together and the formal versus informal spaces too. We love the old tiles in the bathroom adjacent to the bedrooms, the beautiful chestnut flooring and how the old oriel windows offer a pretty outlook.

Whilst we rent the house out, it is also our home so there are two private rooms that we keep closed off. We have, nevertheless, ensured everything is available for you to holiday in a home-from-home, super-comfortable way during your stay.

At La Maison Verte, there are two front doors facing the street. When you arrive, the key will be in a lock box, the code and location of box will be given to you prior to arrival. Stood facing the house, you will use the door to the right which will be your access for the duration of your stay. This door leads to a small entrance lobby with a door to the left into the first cave/garage/ utility area where you can find the washing machine and an indoor washing line for you own personal laundry.

We would kindly ask that you do not wash any of our bed linen or towels as these are specially laundered at the end of your stay.

The Caves and Garden

There are a couple of vintage bicycles in the garage together with a tyre pump and padlocks, should you fancy going for a spin - all at your own risk of course. Park up somewhere, maybe for the Uzes market, a coffee or glass of wine, sit back and watch the world go by.

From the entrance lobby a stone staircase leads up to the open plan dining/ kitchen/ living area. There is an outdoor covered terrace off of the kitchen that serves as a dining/relaxing terrace. The two large cane chairs on this terrace each have a set of cushions that are kept in a large waterproof garden sack in the ground floor cave, please help yourselves to these cushions.

Stairs from the kitchen terrace lead down to the gated, walled garden with lots of seating, a shaded terrace, plus another cave for outdoor dining. Sun beds and deck chairs are kept undercover for you to pull out and use. You will also find a Weber gas bbq, an Ooni gas pizza oven and a traditional bbq here for your use. There are two gas bottles to use in rotation, please turn off the gas after use and clean all BBQ/Pizza oven equipment ready for the next guests.

In the centre cave a table tennis table is available for your use.

The kitchen is a fully equipped chefs area with gas range oven, stainless steel fridge freezer and all the kitchen equipment you need to enjoy your home from home experience. Why not try the village deli for wine, cheese, meat and fresh produce to rustle up a tasty lunch with some bread from Eric the local boulangèr/trattor? The deli’s home-made jams are delicious for breakfast with Eric’s breads and pastries, as are their fresh seasonal fruits and yoghurts.

The kitchen opens onto the dining area with a table that seats 6. To the side and up a step, is the living room with study area where there are three, three-seater sofas and another door onto the kitchen terrace. The double doors up the step in the living room lead to one of our private spaces that we keep closed.

Both living and dining rooms have beautiful open fireplaces, though these are decommissioned, and the chimneys blocked off, so lighting fires in them is not possible.

The house is gas centrally heated and set to ‘on’ if the weather turns cold. The boiler heats the water on demand.

In the back corner of the dining room a door leads to the principal bathroom with toilet, basin, full size bath with mixer taps and walk in shower ( just a reminder the hair trap in the shower floor occasionally needs emptying after you’ve showered to avoid the next person flooding the bathroom).

In the dining area an open tread staircase leads to the mezzanine level that functions as a tv room, with a glass walkway that takes you to the snug, a space with reduced ceiling height that’s ideal for napping in, using as a meditation space, or just curling up with a book.

There’s also a spare wardrobe hanging space in the cupboard at the back of the mezzanine should you wish to use this.

Your bedroom(s) and second bathroom are also on this floor along the passageway. Each bedroom has a queen-sized double bed plus an occasional single bed. If there’s just the two of you holidaying at La Maison Verte the larger of the two bedrooms will be made up for you. The bathroom on this level has the same set up as the principal bathroom downstairs with the toilet adjacent.

The second open tread staircase on the mezzanine level leads to our other private space that is closed off.

Media Equipment

In the living area there is a CD player and turntable connected to an amplifier. We have a small personal collection of cd’s and vinyl records at the house that you may use. We live with close neighbours so ask that guests are respectful when it comes to noise levels, please do not play music after 10pm. The house also has a SONOS network of 5 speakers that can be accessed by Airplay or a SONOS app from a mobile phone - to avoid the system becoming inaccessible the settings cannot be altered.

On the mezzanine there is a wide screen TV; Amazon and Netflix apps are available as well as Chromecast and an SFR TV Box for all regular French channels. Various inputs can be obtained through the TV handset. Sound is programmed to come through a BOSE soundbar; volume and on /off are activated using the BOSE remote control. It is not possible to access UK TV.

Keeping Cool

This old house has thick walls which retain heat in winter and keep heat out in Summer. We advise to keep windows closed during the day at the height of summer and open at night to create a ‘through’ stream of cool air. There are a couple of electric fans for guest use.

Fuse Box and Water Stop Cock

There are two fuse boards in the house. The main one in the garage-cave is to the right of the toilet. The second is above the bookshelves in the study area in the living room. The stop cock for water is under a cover on the floor of the garage, at the front by the double garage doors.

The house is always thoroughly cleaned between guests to a covid-clean standard by our lovely mother and daughter cleaning team from the village. We would ask guests not to wash or change bed linen or towels during their stay. On departure we ask you to please strip the beds of all linen and place with your used towels in the linen bags provided in each bedroom. Please also stack your crockery in the dishwasher and set it to run; wipe down kitchen surfaces; ensure the oven is left in the same clean condition you found it in and empty and wipe down the fridge. Please also take your rubbish to the dechetterie at the top of the village.

We do offer basic kitchen-cupboard supplies which obviously cannot be deemed covid-safe so it is up to you if you choose to use these, please replace anything that you use up. There is a delicatessen, grocery store and boulangerie (with a trattoria) in the village where you can buy all your food. There is a large Intermarche supermarket (with another electric car charge point) together with a Bio grocery store, approx 1km from the house. There is also a TOTAL petrol station here that provides gas bottles for the outdoor kitchen should they run out.

We have a Brocante in the village where tea, coffee and cake can be enjoyed in the beautiful gardens. There is a post office, library and mediatheque on the main village street and a boule pitch by the school. There is another car parking area at the school with another electric car charging point; this car park is a 2-3 minute walk along the lanes in the direction of the Temple, to the house.

The boiler in the kitchen is preset to heat the water on demand and also the radiators should it turn cold.

Kitchen, bathroom and other waste bins need emptying before you leave, please remove the entire bag from each bin and take to the village decheterie adjacent to the carpark at the top of the village by the Sarizen tower.

Our aim is to run La Maison Verte as ‘green’ as we possibly can so we ask that usage of gas, water and electric is given conscious consideration. Linked to this please be aware that the sewage system cannot take anything other than white toilet tissue, so sanitary products, nappies, cotton buds, wet wipes, make up removal pads etc must be placed in the bins provided.

For your safety a fire extinguisher can be found close to the oven in the kitchen along with a fire blanket.

Please note there are no locks on any of the first or second floor windows .