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Artist’s Atelier

1-Bedroom 1-Bath Apartment in Old Town Villefranche sur Mer
  • Charming, Old World apartment in a great location, steps from the waterfront, beach, shops, restaurants
  • Beautiful view of the bay and a colorful pedestrian street lined with gorgeous 600-year-old buildings that meander down to the sea
  • Balcony with dining table for two with lots of sun and great views
  • One-bedroom apartment with spacious open floor plan (bedroom is partly open to the living area)
  • Beautiful original artwork from local artists makes for a colorful and interesting décor as well as very comfortable furnishings
  • Air conditioning, washing machine, fully equipped kitchen, office with excellent desk space, WiFi, phone with free international calling, stereo with Bluetooth connection
The Artist’s Atelier has a great location and lovely views of the village and the bay, with Villa Rothschild framed on top of Cap Ferrat. It is a lovely, artistic view looking down one of most charming pedestrian streets of the Old Town of Villefranche. It has an open floor plan and is filled with bright sunlight from morning to mid-afternoon.
Upon entering this apartment you are impressed with a spacious feeling and sunlight pouring in. Guests enjoy the fun, eclectic furnishings, and original art from local artists. Two French doors lead to the balcony.
The living room has a sofa, reading lights, and from the sofa you can enjoy the view looking down the pedestrian street, lined with colored buildings, all the way to the sea. It is a lovely place to relax and enjoy the view. At the left is the entrance to the office.
The Atelier is a large, open-floor plan apartment. You can see the bedroom area from the living space, which is partly separated from the dining and kitchen area. The apartment is spacious, filled with color and lots of sunlight.
The dining area opens onto the balcony and is filled with sunlight until mid-afternoon. From every vantage point there is a lovely view — down the charming, medieval village street to the sea, or around the apartment which feels like an art gallery.
The kitchen features a gas stove, oven, full refrigerator, dishwasher, granite countertops, and quality pots and pans and serving dishes. It is well equipped and designed for someone who loves to cook.
The bedroom is separated somewhat from the main room, as it is behind the kitchen. There is a superb queen-sized bed, two night stands and reading lights. The bedding is all very high quality with down and foam pillows.
The bathroom is ensuite to the bedroom area. The closet is well designed with lots of hanging and drawer space. In addition, there is plenty of space for suitcases, coats and shoes.
The bathroom has a good-sized sink, counter, towel warmer and convenient storage for toiletries. Also, there is excellent lighting, and a good exhaust fan.
The bathroom and shower are large and well lit. The shower has a convenient space for shampoo and other shower necessities. There are plenty of towel racks and hooks for robes and plenty of storage.
The office is a great little work space, very well laid out, with a large desk, bookshelves, and a window. It is a great place to concentrate and be productive. Although connected to the main room, it is located behind a thick stone wall so is very quiet. There is WiFi and a phone line and plenty of outlets for your devices. Our guests love this workspace.
The dining table on the balcony is for two, but there are two folding stools so you can invite friends to enjoy coffee or aperitifs on the balcony.
From the balcony you will love the charming view of colorful tall buildings cascading down the pedestrian street to the sea, plants everywhere, cats sleeping on windowsills, and people strolling about their daily lives. Although the sea view looks very small in this photo, in real life it appears much more prominently.
Looking up at the building, the Artist's Atelier's balcony is the first one.
We own all of the apartments in the building. You enter the apartment on the street behind (rue Volti), so you only have two steps into the apartment. This building is frequently photographed as it is quite striking and beautiful when you walk up the street.
The apartment is entered on Rue Volti, another pedestrian street in the Old Town filled with local villagers with wonderful families. You will enjoy seeing families come and go and children playing on the street.
Villefranche is still an authentic fishing village where some residents in the Old Town still fish for a living, although not many can still afford to do it. They sell their catch to the restaurants as well as the public. Pictured here are two retired locals out for a little spin in the bay in a pointu, the traditional fishing boat.
Part of the view looking down from the balcony. Always entertaining with people hanging out the windows watching the day go by, and cats sitting perilously from highly perched windows. (Can you find the cat in the window?)
Looking down the pedestrian street at night during the Christmas holidays. The whole village is decorated with warm, cheerful lights and the Old-World lanterns cast a beautiful, medieval glow throughout the village.

Artist’s Atelier

1 bed, 1 bath

This apartment is available for long term rental

Map of Artist’s Atelier
Location of Artist’s Atelier is circled on the map.
Click to view in Google Maps.

About the Location

The Artist’s Atelier is in our rue Volti building and just steps away from the charming Place de la Paix, the beach, and the waterfront quai. It is in the heart of the Old Town, a one- or two-minute walk to everything. There are only three apartments in the building, the Artist’s Atelier plus our other two apartments, Sur le Toit and the Le Beau Balcon. Rue Volti, a well-known pedestrian street in the village, was named after our most famous local artist. Many local families live on this street and a lovely, authentic village life and culture is alive and well. The artist, Volti, lived just down the street from this apartment. He was most famous for his sculptures, especially of women. There is an excellent collection of his work at the Volti museum, displayed in a spectacular space in Villefranche’s citadel, which is absolutely worth a visit and just a 5-minute walk away.

The Old Town of Villefranche (all pedestrian) rises from the waterfront quai, up the hillside to Place de la Paix, an important crossroads of the village, where village life unfolds. You will find a lovely olive tree with benches all around where many locals gather and chat. You will also find the butcher, a green grocer, a boulangerie and a pharmacy. In addition, there is a café and a couple of restaurants which offer an enjoyable spot to observe village life.

The 600-year-old building has a lovely position overlooking the bay and the charming pedestrian street Rue de May, which is lined with colorful, medieval buildings and plants that cascade down the hillside to the waterfront. As you look out the window to the bay and the colorful rue de May, you can easily imagine what life was like here 200 years ago, as you are living a slice of it while here, yet in much more comfort. You do not need a car as public transport is just steps away and everything is walking distance. Read more About Villefranche.

  • Charming, Old World apartment in a great location, steps from the waterfront, beach, shops, restaurants
  • Beautiful view of the bay and a colorful pedestrian street lined with gorgeous 600-year-old buildings that meander down to the sea
  • Balcony with dining table for two with lots of sun and great views
  • One-bedroom apartment with spacious open floor plan (bedroom is partly open to the living area)
  • Beautiful original artwork from local artists makes for a colorful and interesting décor as well as very comfortable furnishings
  • Air conditioning, washing machine, fully equipped kitchen, office with excellent desk space, WiFi, phone with free international calling, stereo with Bluetooth connection

About the Apartment

When you enter the apartment you feel the spaciousness of the room, and the historic feeling of the 600-year-old building. The ceilings are 12 feet high with big old wooden beams. Sunlight enters from the French doors illuminating the beautiful whitewashed stone walls. The kitchen, dining and living areas combine to form one big space with two sets of French doors opening onto the balcony that has one of the most charming, Mediterranean Old Town views — one you’ll never tire of as you look down the curvy, pedestrian street, lined with multi-colored buildings, flowers, balconies and lanterns, cats sleeping in flower pots, laundry flapping in the breeze, and culminating with the beautiful blue sea.

The apartment is decorated in an arty, eclectic style. The tall, irregular, old stone whitewashed walls are covered in colorful art making you feel as though you are in a gallery or an artist’s workshop — hence the name “Artist’s Atelier.” Even the furniture attempts to be part of the artwork, with interesting antiques such as a coffee table that was a tribal crib from Afghanistan, dining chairs from the ’30s and an antique walnut dining table. This is mixed with a modern ’60s-style chair, fun, colorful artwork of different genres, with good mood and art lighting.

The living room has a sofa that is large enough to be able to enjoy a nap. Plus, when sitting on the sofa you can enjoy the pretty view of the bay, Cap Ferrat and the lovely pedestrian street as it cascades down the hillside to the bay. There are two side tables with reading lights, decorative lighting, a coffee table, a stuffed chair and footstool. You can comfortably seat four or six for entertaining. There is a smart TV with English and French stations or you can watch your own stations by connecting to the TV. There is also a music system where you can connect your device via Bluetooth. The dining area features a walnut drop-leaf table with four armchairs and a small buffet.

The kitchen has a gas cooktop, an electric oven and grill, a dishwasher, a microwave, granite countertops, a butcher block counter, excellent lighting and cookware for someone who loves to cook. Next to the kitchen is another French door leading to the balcony. There is plenty of storage in the kitchen.

The balcony has a view of the bay and Villa Rothschild on Cap Ferrat and a very charming view of the pedestrian street below as it descends to the sea. It is a wonderful place to enjoy breakfast, an aperitif, dinner, or just sit and read a book or observe life. The balcony is basked in sun most of the day, has a lovely white Carrera marble floor, pretty wrought iron railings, two armchairs with a dining table for two, plus two more folding stools for guests, flowers and a few herbs to enjoy.

To the right of one of the French doors leading to the balcony is the entrance to another small room with a beautiful built-in desk and a charming window looking to the pedestrian street below. This is a great workspace and many a guest has written books, designed and written software apps, or run companies from this space. There is excellent lighting, a bookshelf unit, WiFi, a phone with with free international calling and a large storage closet (great for suitcases or other items).

Bedroom & Bathroom

The bedroom area features a very comfortable, high quality queen-sized bed with two night stands and good reading lights, plus a large closet for hanging clothes and drawers for other items. The bathroom off the bedroom area has a large walk-in shower, toilet, and large sink with plenty of counter space and storage for toiletries and excellent lighting. Next to the bedroom area is a laundry closet with a washing machine, ironing board and iron and various other useful items.