In 2016, while working as a styling assistant at House & Garden, I joined Ruth Sleightholme and Andrew Montgomery on a trip to Vallabrègues, a small town near Avignon. It’s a quiet place with just one shop and not much else—especially at midday, when the town falls silent. We were there to photograph Maison Vime, formerly the Hotel Drujon. Benoit Rauzy and Anthony Watson, the founders of Atelier Vime, had purchased it in 2014. At the time, it was in rough shape, more of a bird sanctuary than a hotel.
It was there that I came up with what I call the "lucky house theory." Instead of constantly gawping at other homes, green with envy, I began to think of the houses themselves as the lucky ones. None, perhaps, luckier than the Hotel Drujon, destined to become Maison Vime. The building had found two men with such an eye for beauty and detail that they would transform it into one of the most captivating homes in the world. That may sound hyperbolic, but I stand by it wholeheartedly; there's not a single image of this glorious place that doesn’t pull my eye in for a feast.
Rauzy and Watson aren’t just on a mission to restore handsome homes; they’re regenerating an entire industry. Vallabrègues has a deep-rooted history in wicker craftsmanship. Situated on the edge of the Rhône, the village was once surrounded by thriving osier willow, and in 1911, civil records show that Vallabrègues had 1,818 residents, 320 of whom were basket makers.
Maison Vime itself was no stranger to this tradition. In 1878, a local wicker merchant, Armand Boyer, purchased the house and established his basket-making workshop there—a legacy his descendants carried until the late 1970s. It’s easy to see why I think of the house as the lucky one; it’s found caretakers who honour its history and are breathing new life into an age-old craft. It seems almost too perfect.
But that perfection comes at a cost. Rauzy, Watson and their have put an overwhelming amount of time, energy and money into the house and regenerating the craft, so it is with great delight that I took possession of their new book, The World of Atelier Vime: A Renaissance of Wicker and Style. It is a book that not only documents the incredible history of wicker and rattan but also illustrates the beauty that Rauzy and Watson manage to conjure up. I was so pleased that Beniot could take the time to answer these vital, extraordinary questions.
Favourite restaurant?
La Playa, in Les Saintes Maries de la Mer—a beach restaurant in the most typical village of the Camargue. Exquisite fish served with black rice and carrots.
Favourite Poem?
Jamais d’autre que toi, by Robert Desnos [Never Anyone but You, by Robert Desnos]. A poem about love and devotion, solitude and fragility.
Do you like surprises?
I probably would if good surprises were less rare.
What film can you watch again and again without getting bored?
L’Avventura [The Adventure] by Michelangelo Antonioni. An ideal of beauty.
What was the last book you read?
Regards sur la mer, a very short book by Paul Valéry.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Not in ghosts, but in forces that we are not able to understand, yes.
If you could have any piece of art hung in your house for a year, which one would it be?
It’s very difficult. Could I propose to slightly adapt the rules: Mediterranean Sea by Hiroshi Sugimoto in Normandy, Zorah sur la Terrasse by Henri Matisse for Paris, Odalisque by Ossip Zadkine in Brittany, and Paysage de Bretagne by Gauguin in Vallabrègues?
What is your favourite colour?
Green.
Any good advice? Who gave it to you?
A very charming old lady in New York said, “In a couple, you need air, not draft.”
Favourite smell?
Lavender. The summer, the South, and my dad.
What song always makes you tap your foot?
Miss You by the Rolling Stones.
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