Location of the estate
The Domaine Ananda is situated on a largely unspoiled part of coast line of the french riviera: the Cote d'Azur. The Rayol-Canadel is about 35Km west of the famous Saint-Tropez. The 5000m² estate is surrounded by vegetation and overlooks the sea and the Canadel sandy beach (5 minutes wlaking). On the domain there is a beautiful garden with "Trachycarpus" palm trees. Perfect place to sip a drink and meditate, or dive into a good book.
The property is facing south-west, ideal for the evening drink! You can see the Cap Negre, the Canadel and Paramousquier bays and the famous islands: Port Cros, Porquerolle. On the south-est lies the wild hills on the (unburned!) Maures mountains.
 |
 |
|
The alley of the Domaine Ananda
|
|
Estate history
The main house was built in 1952. It was originally called "Villa La Balme": The name is still engraved on the pillar of the old gate. In this period of time, the maids were called with an electro-magnetic board in the kitchen connected to a bakelite button in each room of the house. Unfortunately, when we remodeled the house in 2002/2003, we had to uninstall this old system for security reasons, destroying it in the proscess.
Ananda is the name that the last owners gave to this place and they have cherished it for almost 30 years. Although Europeans, these artists believed in hindouism. They left this place to leave it to us without shedding a tear (or so it seemed). In the hindou philosophy, "unhappy are those emotionally attached to material things and places". Will we have this wisdom when it will our turn to leave this place? Frankly, we doubt it! But who knows… Some say that we get wise as we grow old…
The last owners of the estate invited a guru who came especially
from India to bless this place. They spent two weeks praying for this land
to be sacred. They told us that from that point on, this property was soaked
with happiness and bliss. "Ananda", in Hindou, means a state of
bliss. This may amuse some, but whether or not you are a believer, one cannot
easily dismiss the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the force of thought
alone from these people who have prayed here for nearly 30 years may have
in fact left an indelible imprint on this little paradise. In doubt, we love
this place for a little bit more that what it actually shows.
Villa Ganesh: This villa is situated in the upper part of the estate. It was built especially for the guru mentioned earlier who came every year until his death. Near the house, we found a small worthless statue, whose colours have been washed out by the sun over the years. It was set inside a little niche of a pillar of the house. It was the representation of Ganesh (a man with an elephant head) whose function is to protect the house and its riches. Withered plants next to the statuette showed that the niche was regularly embellished with flowers from the garden. If it is true that in life "there are no coincidences, there are appointments", then the destiny of this insignificant statue has crosses our fate. Once again, why not let fate do its work: We named the house "Villa Ganesh", and Ganesh still proudly sits in his niche. Occasionally we also install a little flower found nearby in its niche: "Hey pal, what's up!?" Ridiculous for some, for us too… in the beginning. Again, wether you believe or not, the reminiscing heritage of this place must be preserved, at least a litlle bit, or it will be lost completly. You don't destroy a church, a synagogue, a temple or a mosque just because you don't believe... at least not in a civilized world!
We have discovered so many strange coincidences in this place, and parallels with the last owners, that some say we had an appointment with this place and our coming here was written in the stars. We kept the name Ananda for the estate and the house, and we gave names of the same culture to the other houses of the estate. In fact the next house that will be constructed in two years will be baptised Villa Sangha. Explanations for later!