Provence Style: Decorating with French Country Flair

Shauna Varvel’s Provence Style provides an intimate tour of quintessential Provençal style, featuring chic homes and interior details inspired by this picturesque region.

Contribution by Alexandra Black

Thirty years after the publication of Peter Mayle’s bestselling memoir A Year in Provence, the sun-drenched southern French region continues to excite home decorators with its combination of rustic charm, elegant details, and historical influences.

Provence Style showcases the best of the region, with Shauna Varvel’s quintessential 18th-century Rhône valley farmhouse—Le Mas des Poiriers—as its centerpiece. Named for the working pear orchard on the grounds, the property was reimagined by noted local architect Alexandre Lafourcade, who transformed a rough structure into a luxurious expression of the Provençal aesthetic, referencing historical influences, rural traditions, and Parisian taste.

Set amid a garden of allées, arbors, and terraces designed by the architect’s mother, renowned landscape designer Dominique Lafourcade, this exemplar of Provençal style is the starting point for exploring the region’s characteristic interior details and exterior features.

The book includes chapters on the public spaces of the home, from entrances to living rooms, the private realm of bedrooms and bathrooms, and outdoor areas including patios and kitchen gardens, transporting the reader on a captivating stylistic journey.

“When Shauna Varvel and her family bought an 18th-century estate on a 65-acre pear farm on the Rhône River, their lives turned into a romantic fantasy fit for a Hollywood movie.” —New York Post

Shauna Varvel began her career in public relations with Estée Lauder in New York and Tokyo. After years of renting homes in Provence, Varvel and her family finally took on the renovation of a 200-year-old farmhouse outside Avignon, France. The project has been celebrated by numerous publications, including Veranda, Town & Country, and Fortune. Alexandra Black is the author of Living in Cuba, Tuscan Elements, Ski Style, The Japanese House, Dusk Till Dawn, and The Fashion Book, and she has contributed to Elle, Vogue Living, and Gourmet Traveller.