17 Dream Villas in the South of France, From 18th-Century Country Homes to Beachside Getaways

Number of guests: 18
Bed and bath: 10 bedrooms, 7 baths
Why we love it: Spiral staircase, two pools, canopy beds

At this stately 18th-century bastide—the former home of architect and landscape-designer couple Bruno and Dominique Lafourcade—guests are catapulted into deep Provence: the three-story lime-washed ochre façade and green shutters and the beautifully structured gardens ablaze with bright blooms, rare plants, wisteria, and topiary hedges, seem timeless, as if this tranquil 20-acre property, built from scratch, had been there for centuries. A spiral staircase leads to a lookout platform on a towering plane tree, a mini summer cottage sits next to the orchard, and two pools are set within the gardens. Inside the comfortable manor house, bedrooms are furnished with pretty canopy beds and clawfoot tubs in the bathrooms. Downstairs, the well-equipped country kitchen has everything you need to whip up a ratatouille, or you can hire a local chef for a Provençal feast served on the long marble tables of the outdoor dining terrace.