Daydream Homes

THE VILLA Mabasque seems likely to be no more than a daydream for most readers, but in the depths of January it is warming to fantasise about buying a pounds 2.5m home in the South of France.

The pink-washed villa sits in the artists' village of Saint Paul de Vence, in the hills nine miles above Nice. It has huge, elegant reception rooms with marble floors and panelled doors, three suites in the main house and two more in the guesthouse. Outside are one-and-three-quarter acres of gardens, with fountains, a swimming-pool and a colonnaded dining area. There are views over the village to the Mediterranean on one side and to the mountains on the other.

Some owners include furniture and fittings in the sale of a property. The owners of the Villa Mabasque have thrown in a rather classier extra: a 1957 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud which is in perfect condition.

Contact Hamptons International about the house and car, on 071-493 8222.

(Photograph omitted)