Le Mas de Maupas is a traditional Provençal farmhouse set amidst 3 hectares of parkland, fruit trees and mirabelle plum orchards. ‘Mas’ is the French term for farmhouse and ‘Maupas’ is an archaic French word meaning something like marshland. The property is situated in a beautiful valley overlooked by the famous Mont Ventoux, or ‘Giant of Provence’ as it is known by the locals.
The Le Maupas Story
Annie & Jim Templeton are serious motor racing enthusiasts who ran a logistics company in the UK. In her spare time Annie was a highly competitive racer of classic cars. A decade ago they started visiting the Vaucluse region regularly to see family who own a vineyard in the area.
About seven years ago we were returning to the UK after another visit to Provence. I looked at Jim and said “This feels wrong. It feels like we are leaving our home.” “I know!” He said “so what are we going to do about it?”. Although it took a while to physically achieve, from that moment on in our heads we were residents of Provence, not England.
After 6 years of searching for the right property in Vaucluse they left the UK for good in 2010, closing the business and selling everything. Annie hung up her helmet and retired from motor racing. In early 2012 they saw Le Mas de Maupas for the first time and instantly knew they’d finally found their home…externally the house was solidly constructed but the interior was just a shell with no plumbing or electricity. It was a big project. Work on the renovations started in June 2012 and by October Annie & Jim had moved into the main farmhouse. The gîte in the west wing was completed in August 2013 when it opened it’s door to the first guests and positive reviews.
We are still working on the exterior of the property, planting and landscaping the grounds and finishing the swimming pool, but this is not in the vicinity of the accommodation and will not bother our guests. We welcome you to Le Maupas and hope you enjoy your stay with us.
January 2014 update: Sadly Jim passed away in November 2013. I am so thankful that he was able to see our challenging project completed before he died and take so much pleasure from what we were able to achieve. He enjoyed so much walking the grounds with his dogs, chatting with our olive farming neighbors over the fence and meeting our guests from all over the world. He will be missed by so many people. Annie