Vipp Townhouse Lagrasse – Scandinavian minimalism meets medieval French architecture
Back in June I shared a preview of Vipp’s new outdoor furniture range, ‘Lagrasse’, which was designed for – and named after – the latest addition to its growing collection of guest accommodation. Well, the property itself has now opened its doors for bookings and it looks absolutely stunning.
Vipp’s varied guesthouse portfolio already encompasses a remote lakeside hideaway in Sweden, an adobe villa in Mexico, a converted water-pumping station in Copenhagen, a rustic log cabin in Latvia and more. All blend the Danish brand’s signature Nordic minimalism with a strong sense of place – and the twelfth, which occupies a 14th-century townhouse in the ancient riverside village of Lagrasse in Occitane, southern France, is no exception.
The transformation of the three-storey building took two years, with strict conservation laws and the area’s long history guiding every step of the process. The thick stone walls, narrow green-framed windows and sloping tiled roof were retained and restored, preserving the house’s medieval soul. On the inside, meanwhile, Vipp’s interior designer Julie Cloos Mølsgaard introduced stainless steel and clean-lined aluminium alongside gnarled wood, tactile fabrics and textural plaster walls whose warm white hue echoes the stones used to construct the nearby Lagrasse Abbey.
The house is accessed from the village square, whose cobblestones are referenced in the coarse pebble flooring laid throughout the ground floor. This level serves as a sophisticated yet laid-back lounge, with low-slung beige sofas, a marble-topped coffee table, plenty of candles, and a hidden powder room behind tall wooden panels.
A sculptural staircase crafted by local metalsmith Alejandro Berconsky leads up to a kitchen and dining space on the floor above. Here, full-height cupboards and an island unit from Vipp’s V3 kitchen system take centre stage, the grooves of their extruded-aluminium fronts providing an elegant focal point at the very heart of the house. To one side of this is the brand’s circular ‘Cabin’ table, flanked by special-edition Vipp ‘Swivel’ chairs upholstered in a bold custom-designed Pierre Frey fabric that picks out the colour of the window frames and that was inspired by a medieval coat of arms. To the other, French doors lead onto a terrace overlooking the square below. It’s lit by sleek Vipp wall lamps which cast a soft glow over the time-worn stonework and furnished with the ‘Lagrasse’ range, whose compact proportions and airy woven-cord seats were created with smaller outside spaces such as this in mind.
The top floor is taken up by a vast open-plan bedroom and ensuite bathroom, complete with a chunky timber headboard that doubles as a room divider and an eye-catching shower tray hewn from locally sourced red marble. In another gorgeous marriage of contrasts, these natural materials are offset by a smooth powder-coated aluminium sink unit and a bank of mirrored wardrobes. There’s also a second ‘Cabin’ dining table – not what you’d expect in a bedroom, but Mølsgaard was keen to encourage guests to use the space differently, perhaps lingering over morning coffee or late-night snacks. Dual-aspect windows – one at the foot of the bed at the front of the house, the other within the shower enclosure at the rear – reveal views over Lagrasse’s rooftops to the countryside beyond.
Like all Vipp’s guesthouses to date, the Lagrasse townhouse is a wonderful fusion of contemporary Danish design and local character – a balanced dialogue between modernity, architecture, history and setting. For a relaxing holiday in one of France’s most beautiful villages, it looks pretty hard to beat.
Find out more about Vipp Townhouse Lagrasse and book a stay here. The property sleeps two adults, and rates start at €449 per night.
All photography courtesy of Vipp
