Background to Les Pavots

The land, which is now ‘Les Pavots’, was purchased by the original owners in April 1990 as a redundant vineyard overlooking the medieval village of Soubès. The ‘Wine Lake’ in the early days of the EEC forced many hectares of vineyards to be taken out of production. Les Pavots was one such plot. The vignerons were paid handsome compensation for grubbing up their vines with the added bonus, in the case of our plot; of having it designated residential development land by the Mairie. Evidence of the garden's origins was the odd wild vine that appeared in the flowerbeds. The narrow access path between house and pool was the original track between terraces used by the vigneron. 

After buying the land the original owners were faced with the task of selecting a builder and a villa design. A Lodève builder was selected and one of his plans chosen and modified by a British architect. The villa construction was commenced in July of the same year of 1990 and completed in April 1991. Sadly, not all was plain sailing during and for ten years after the building of the property!

The villa was first rented to a few guests in 1992 after initial furnishing had been completed. In 1993 the garden round the villa was landscaped and storm drains installed to cope with the torrential ‘flash’ floods and thunderstorms that occur in this region, usually in September –October. Commercial marketing of the property ceased in 2000, allowing the owners to spend more time to enjoy the villa. We purchased Les Pavots in January 2012.

As for the name, ‘Les Pavots’, it means ‘Poppies’, after the flowers that grow on the site. However, the original owners were pharmacists and the word that they chose for poppies is, appropriately, the French word more typically used for opium poppies.