L’Atelier In Saignon, “the creative refuge” <br>In the Enamoura Holiday Homes Collection

L’Atelier In Saignon, “the creative refuge”
In the Enamoura Holiday Homes Collection

Hospitality. A benevolent relationship with others and a feeling for beautiful spaces, which for some is deeply rooted in their genes. A story of heritage and passing things on that puts people at the heart of the matter and inspires not only our brand’s message but also that of Enamoura, the Provençal holiday home collection Magali Avignon has created. In fact, when she talks about her latest project – L’Atelier in Saignon – she is referring to her own mother. To both her mother and her grandmother, Lisette, who, in their turn, welcomed grape pickers and travellers to the family estate. The former marketing manager – who welcomed us with her family in Marseille – has a natural penchant for the art of entertaining that she exploits enthusiastically to bring her holiday properties to life as she shares her “sunny and sensual sunny vision” of her region with the lucky visitors who venture there. In her latest property, which has the air of a “creative refuge” – ideal for a romantic weekend or a bucolic getaway on your own – the local girl has once again sought to preserve the authentic southern spirit that is so precious to her. The entrepreneur celebrates the importance of local craftsmanship in this monochrome setting “as a tribute to her native Provence”. It is decorated with treasures found here and there in the surrounding flea markets or handed down from her ancestors. And its warm atmosphere is also conducive to creativity. When she is not giving up this space to the annual artists’ residency, Magali designs her handmade light fittings on her workbench overlooking the roofs of the hamlet below. Much more than a simple holiday home, L’Atelier in Saignon has established itself as a joyful and lively living space shaped by the flow of these productive forces. A creative dynamic that invites us to draw inspiration from the top of this rocky outcrop.

L’Atelier holiday home, 8C Rue de Cilly. 84400 – Saignon. Book your stay on their website www.enamoura.com or by email to reservations@enamoura.com.

My taste was forged by an obsession for respecting the authenticity of a place and by haunting the region's flea markets (...)

Magali, could you introduce yourself, please?

Magali

I grew up in Provence near L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. I have an uncontrollable passion for antiques and useful everyday Provençal items. I’m an entrepreneur, and I’m a bit hyperactive. I love the scrubland of the Mediterranean coast, the sun, the sea and family holidays.

What is your background?

Magali

After a career in snow sports marketing with the Rossignol group in Grenoble, I returned to the south to launch a start-up in estate agency in Marseille. Then, having headed up this company for ten years, I wanted to devote myself to a more personal undertaking, something closer to my creative aspirations. So, since then, I have developed the Enamoura collection of holiday homes and handcrafted lighting. It’s my way of sharing my heritage and my sunny, sensual vision of Provence.

Tell us about your education. What sort of environment did you grow up in – and how did that affect the way your tastes developed?

Magali

I grew up in the middle of my family’s land in a Provençal farmhouse we renovated year after year. My taste was forged by an obsession for respecting the authenticity of a place and by haunting the region’s flea markets, which have been my hunting ground for useful everyday objects all my life. This traditional building, where my mother still lives, is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Our porcelain lighting collection is named after her: “Maria des fleurs”. It’s directly inspired by the opaline pendant lights that still illuminate the family dinner table. I reinterpreted them in biscuit-fired porcelain to give them more warmth and sensuality. I’m very attached to the timelessness of a room or a setting.

You run the “Enamoura” collection of holiday homes: Provencal properties you have renovated and decorated. Why did you choose to invest in this region?

Magali

My family grew Chasselas, a table grape whose benefits as a cure have made the country of Sorgues, where I come from, very wealthy and prosperous. The family farmhouse was always full of grape pickers and farm workers, accommodated and fed by my grandmother, Lisette. Later, my mother offered hitch-hikers board and lodging there. They both passed on this culture of southern hospitality to me, and now I’m perpetuating it in my turn, from the scrubland of the Garrigue to the steep-sided inlets we know as the Calanques. Enamoura is my way of paying tribute to them and of passing on this simple, authentic southern way of life to my two daughters. The icing on the cake is that the sun shines all year round in this region, so it’s a joy to come here on holiday in any season!

I was looking for a more intimate location, a creative refuge. I immediately fell in love with this former artist’s studio with its breathtaking view of the Luberon and the village rooftops.

Tell us about how you came to know the village of Saignon and the workshop where we are today.

Magali

I was looking for a more intimate location, a creative refuge. I immediately fell in love with this former artist’s studio with its breathtaking view of the Luberon and the village rooftops. So I set about renovating it as a tribute to my native Provence. It was a long and laborious undertaking, but this place embodies the Enamoura spirit better than any other. The name comes from the word “Enamourado”, which means “Lover” in Provencal. I became particularly attached to this unspoiled hilltop village and the people who live here over the months while the work was going on. Subsequently, we added the chapel and the little house – iconic Saignon buildings – to our collection.

L’Atelier in Saignon is both a holiday home and a creative workshop where you design your handcrafted decorative pieces when it is not in use for artist residencies. What is it about this place that inspires you in your creative process?

Magali

I was inspired to develop collections of lighting fixtures handcrafted by local artisans while I was designing the ‘agateware’ mixed clay pendant light for L’Atelier. This place is both a source of inspiration and a guide for me. It forces me to respect the Enamoura identity unfailingly: simple and timeless forms, sensual objects, often quite rough, and reflecting my peasant roots. Useful “no fuss” objects, as my grandmother Lisette would have said! Like our Rosario wall lamp in grogged stoneware, which is a more refined reinterpretation of the old wall lights with a simple hanging tile. Each model showcases all the skills, expertise and traditional techniques found in our region: wheel-thrown terracotta, stamped mixed clay (agateware), glazed stoneware and so on. They’re precious objects “to be handed down”. I’m passionate about this creative process, and I’m constantly learning from our craftspeople.

How did you design this pristine setting to accommodate people who want to hide themselves away and develop their artistic projects?

Magali

The unique feature of L’Atelier was that it already had a separate and beautifully light space dedicated to creative activities, with a large window overlooking the village rooftops and the Luberon. So I decided to build a large plaster work surface facing the sunset and to install a water point with a stone basin. It’s a particularly inspiring and comfortable place to draw, write, compose or work with clay. In partnership with Margaux Derhy, who established “Le Cercle de l’Art”, I also accommodate artists in residence every year in Saignon. It gives five women artists the opportunity to take advantage of our houses to recharge their batteries and be creative. This year they came to Saignon and inaugurated L’Atelier. It’s wonderful – we’ve waited a long time for it.

The unique feature of L'Atelier was that it already had a separate and beautifully light space dedicated to creative activities, with a large window overlooking the village rooftops and the Luberon.

You are introducing a new approach to renovating your properties with the generous use of lime here. Tell us about this new decorative approach.

Magali

Each place inspires a different story and has a specific atmosphere. For L’Atelier, the building’s former use guided my inspiration. I wanted to stick with this idea of having a creative space upstairs and a large living space on the first floor where the bed would be the central element, open and dominant. I imagined an immaculate, pristine space where all the furniture is built up out of the ground in quite a natural way. I wanted a simple, timeless, authentic dwelling. I have a very personal vision of Provence, sometimes romanticised, where an island atmosphere prevails, with the dominant colour of the lime reminiscent of the interior of fishermen’s homes. However, each object I find in the local flea markets or from my family heritage brings us back to local traditional arts and crafts.

To what extent do the architectural features of this delightful place complement your other properties?

Magali

Each house is, above all, a place I love myself, an authentic, warm and soothing place to be. But, inherent in this collection, there is also the desire to bring Provence to life through its various traditional habitats: Climbing to the top of a rock to a 10th-century chapel to celebrate a special occasion, living village life with your family in Saumane, discovering Marseille with friends … L’Atelier is the most intimate place in the collection, a warm bachelor pad, a refuge to escape to or a love nest for a weekend. But you can bring your children, too, if you haven’t managed to get rid of them, because L’Atelier has two double beds! It’s the ideal base for visiting the Luberon at any time of year.

Where will we see you in the coming months?

Magali

Next month, we’re opening “Le Garage”, Enamoura in the heart of Marseille, our assembly workshop where everyone can explore and learn about our lighting collections and leave with their own pendant shades or wall lights. Just make an appointment on our website or on Instagram. And to continue to meet the demands of architects who are increasingly coming to us to supply their beautiful hotels or restaurants, we’ll be expanding our collection of handcrafted lighting over the coming months.