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Chateau de Goult, Goult, Provence
A unique opportunity to experience life in a splendidly restored renaissance chateau, at the top of a beautiful Provence village.
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The Chateau sleeps 20 people (can be increased to 26 - see the Rates page) in rooms of great space and light, and has been updated with modern bathrooms. It stands guard as it has for more than 800 years over the village of Goult in the Luberon, a village that is the region's best-kept secret. And it can be rented for the weekend, by the week, or more, year-round.
Living Rooms
Despite its scale, the chateau has a homely feel in its rooms, which are impressive but not imposing. The oldest part dates to the 12th century, the newest to the 17th century.
 The magnificent stone staircase. |
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On entering you are met with the extraordinary stone staircase that winds up to the top of the chateau (above left). On the ground floor is the main living room with comfortable sofas around the fireplace, satellite TV, DVD, and wireless internet. In one corner is a book-lined study and on the walls, 18th century Provencal stucco. Beyond this are the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen is equipped with everything you would need: large American fridge-freezer, dishwasher, wide cooker, and all the tableware for feeding a castleful. Upstairs you come to the oldest part of the building, the Salle des Gardes (the guards' room), which dates back to the 1300s when the chateau defended itself against frequent conquerors and invaders. There is even a little chapel for when things weren't going well. The Salle des Gardes is now a sitting room with fireplace (above) and a dining area with glass ceiling and chandeliers (right). |  |
 The upstairs living room with piano and big games table. |  Ground floor living room. |
One floor up is another large living room with a big fireplace, sofas, a piano, and a large games table (there are also board games).
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The kitchen is well equipped and well used to catering for large numbers.
 The Salle des Gardes has a great ambience in the evening. |  Dining room next to kitchen seats 14. |
The newly restored tower (below) now has a roof and from the top there are wonderful views of Provence, including the white-topped Mont Ventoux, Bonnieux and Lacoste, and Goult itself.
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Views from the top of the tower include Mont Ventoux to the north (centre), and Bonnieux, Lacoste and the Luberon range to the east (right).
Bedrooms
The Chateau sleeps up to 20 people including children, with a maximum of 14 adults. This can be increased to 26 if more children are sleeping in a dorm-type set-up. There are 5 double bedrooms, a twin room, and a single, as well as a suite than can either be a double or a dormitory for children. There are 7 bathrooms.
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Master Bedroom with its en suite bathroom (above right), with bathtub, walk-in shower, double basins, separate WC, and double aspect windows.
The Master Bedroom is on its own beyond one of the living rooms and has a large en suite bathroom. The bed was made in an epoch when 1.4m (4.5 ft) was considered a large bed. The other doubles are at least 1.8m wide (6 ft). The master bathroom on the other hand was created in an era when we understand the pleasures of a very large, light bathroom, with jacuzzi bath and walk-in shower. |  View from the master bedroom. |
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The Poterne Room with large bed and bathtub, bathroom through the double doors has shower and WC.
 Shower room in the Poterne Room. | The poterne (postern) is the part of the castle that bridges over the road, and the Poterne Room (above) takes advantage of this large space to accommodate a 1.8m wide bed, a bathub and a unique marble and porcelain wash basin. There is a separate room with shower and WC. The room has great views through big windows to the south, with the tower and the Luberon mountain, as well as over the rooftops. Like in medieval times, there is no traffic on the road. |  Poterne Room balcony. |
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Léone's Room with a large double and the option of a daybed that can be used as a single bed. And its view.
Léone's Room (above) is at the top level and is the first of a run of four bedrooms in a row. Each can connect to its neighbouring rooms, and the first three also connect to the corridor that runs outside them. There is a bathroom nearest Léone's Room accessed from the landing, and there is a bathroom at the other end, but only accessed from the last two bedrooms (the Doni Suite, see below). A good use of these rooms is to have parents in the doubles and their children in the singles, although it is possible to have all adults too.
 Twin room next to Léone's Room. | The Agnolo Room (left) has two single 19th century lits bateau and is next to Léone's Room. The bathroom on the landing (right) has walk-in shower, basin and WC. Below is the Doni Suite with double bed, an en suite single room, and bathroom with bathtub, basin, overhead shower and WC. |  Bathroom on landing. |
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The large double bedroom in the Doni Suite (above), and its view (below left).
 View from the Doni Suite. |  The single room in the Doni suite. |  The Doni suite bathroom. |
 The Simiane Suite can be a double or a dorm for 7 children, | Across the corridor from these 4 bedrooms is another large bedroom, the Simiane Suite (left), which can be anything from one beautiful double for adults, to a kids' dorm for up to 7. There is a bathroom with shower, basin and WC in the castle turret by the Simiane Suite. Down a level, in another part of the chateau, the oldest part, is the Dungeon Room (below). This was the first line of defence for the village against invaders, as the vertical archers' windows testify, and its walls are 6 feet thick. This ensures a remarkably cool and calm atmosphere in the summer. There is an en suite bathroom with walk-in shower, basin and WC (below right). Downstairs is another bathroom with bathtub, basin and WC. |
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The 900-year-old Dungeon Room and its contemporary bathroom. |
Outside
The chateau is at the top of the village in a very quiet setting, and has a beautiful walled garden with swim basin, as well as a higher terrace with Luberon view.
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 The chateau from the street. |  Swimming pool in garden. |  View from the pool. |
The delightful garden has the generous shade of large trees, a circle of lawn, and places to eat and lounge. The pool of 8m x 2.5m (26 x 8ft) has naturally found its place in the old walls of the fortifications. It is perfect for a refreshing dip on a hot summer's day, and with the heat exchanger system it can stay at up to 26 degrees (78F) into October. |
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 | The south-facing garden is over three levels, with areas of shade and sun, and lawn, gravel and decking. The chateau continues to evolve and the latest addition is the terrace pictured below which is between the house and tower, above the garden and pool. |  |
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The new terrace runs between the tower and house, and looks over the garden and pool. |
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The lower level of the garden, with lawn and dining. |
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The1st floor terrace is an afternoon suntrap with view over the roofs of Goult to the Luberon plateau and mountain. |
 The postern bridge. | Another outside space is the terrace on the first floor (above), which is at the end of the corridor of bedrooms. There are table and chairs, and views over rooftops to the Luberon valley and mountain in the distance (right). |  The view from the first floor terrace over the top of Goult. |
 The tower at night. |  View over the rooftops of Goult to the windmill. |
The Location
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Goult is a hidden treasure of the Luberon.
Goult is a real gem of a village, with a very pleasant atmosphere, a good café/restaurant on the main square, and a 'hidden' and beautifully preserved old neighbourhood with bakery, butcher, grocery store and several restaurants, all right on your doorstep.
The other perched hill-top villages of the Luberon, like Menerbes, Gordes, Bonnieux, Roussillon, Lacoste, and Oppede le vieux are all 10-15 minutes away.
Fontaine de Vaucluse and tha antiques capital of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue are 20 minutes away, the medieval city of Avignon is 40 minutes, and within an hour are Aix-en-Provence, St Remy, Mont Ventoux, Les Baux de Provence, Orange, and the start of the Rhone wine trail.
You can make a comfortable day-trip to the Cote d'Azur from Monte Carlo to St Tropez, Marseille, the fishing village of Cassis and the calanques, Arles, Nimes, the Camargue, the Alps, the Gorges du Verdon, and the Rhone wine trail all the way to Lyon.
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Goult
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Noted for:
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Weekly Rates
| May | 8000 euros |
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| June | 9000 euros |
| July - August | 11000 euros |
| September | 9000 euros |
| October | 8000 euros |
| November - April | 7000 euros |
| Xmas, New Year | 8000 euros |
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