The grange du Kaolin at Saint-Restitut: in the land of the white stones

Located in Saint-Restitut, in the region of Tricastins en Drôme, this house has more than its share of stories to tell! And its owner, Gerald Calvier, who has spent three years lovingly restoring it, is only too happy to recount them.

It all began a very long time ago with the Romans, whose traces can still be seen today. Rebuilt some three centuries ago, the building has housed a succession of peasant families who lived in autarky by growing vegetables, pulses and tending to their sheep. The development of kaolin in the 20th century presaged the dawn of a new era. Dug out manually with pickaxes from mines, the white rock was crushed and mixed with water before being pressed into slabs and dispatched to various porcelain factories. The kaolin industry brought prosperity to the entire region before being gradually abandoned in the 1930s when profits began to wane. The mines and the house fell into disrepair and remained neglected till 2000 when Gerald fell under the spell of the region. He has restored the dilapidated building into a graceful, 200 square metres domicile which can be taken on rent for oneself or to invite... a dozen friends.

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Gérald CALVIER et Laurence RIVET
Domaine Le Saint Paulet
650, chemin du Kaolin
26130 ST RESTITUT
Tel: + 33 (0) 475 04 58 09

To see, to do:

-The village of Saint-Restitut is worth visiting: a bare and sober Romanesque church displaying a beautifully decorated antique door, a well-preserved renaissance building with turrets, the remains of ramparts, a door of the Rose, mullioned windows, gargoyles and pretty squares shaded by plane trees. Of equal interest are the "cathedral cellars". Situated in the ancient quarries which actually supplied the stones used in the construction of the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, these cellars form a veritable underground cathedral and provide ideal hygrometric conditions for ageing the "Cellier des Dauphins" wines.

-In season, from November to March, all activities centre around truffles: from digging them out to digging into them! In the process, one visits the Maison de la truffe and the market at St-Paul Trois Châteaux, both within a stone's throw of the domicile.

To know more about Drôme, click here
To see the Drôme in pictures, click here