A love affair with the South of France that stretches back over sixty years is set to end this year as fashion icon Laura Ashley’s French property goes on the market. The late designer’s son, Nick, has put their stunning Provence home up for sale, at a cool £8.9 million.
Glamorous location attracted the Ashleys
It was in 1949 that the girl from Wales first visited St Tropez when honeymooning with husband Bernard. The couple vowed to earn enough money to buy a home in the region, an ambition that was finally achieved in 1983 when they bought Le Preverger in the hills of St Tropez from actress Jean Moreau.
Both Margaret Thatcher and Diana, Princess of Wales were guests at the 18 bedroom property, set in 138 acres of rural France.
Nick Ashley told the Daily Telegraph: “My mother’s love affair with Provence reached back to 1949, when she came here on her honeymoon on the back of my father’s motorbike.
“They were both captivated by the glamour and the wealth but ran out of money and had to sell the motorbike and limp home early. They vowed to work like hell, become successful and buy the most incredible home in St Tropez.”
Stunning rural property
The property is on the market for 9.9 million Euros (just under £9 million). Located just 13 miles from the excusive resort of St Tropez, it is one of several homes the Ashley’s owned alongside properties in London, Brussels, Wales and the Bahamas.
The 138 acre estate includes a caretaker’s lodge, a guest house, a swimming pool and pool house and landscaped gardens. A-list celebrity neighbours include the Redgrave family and Hollywood stars Liam Neeson and Johnny Depp. More Luxury Property
Nick Ashley believes that his late mother would have favoured a sale. “She was of the school of thought that nobody ever owns a house. We are just curators of it for a certain length of time,” he said.
“She would see it as only right and natural that La Garde-Freinet would pass into new hands, be lived in, loved and then handed on again.”
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