Daimon Design | Architect’s House Between the Sea & Maquis – Roquebrune

Villa Mougins | Renovation with Dovecote | DAIMON Design Extension of a 20th Century House

Project Data — Villa Mougins

Typology: residential renovation without extension
Location: Mougins, Provence
Original construction year: 1980s
Garden area: 8,000 m² made accessible
Final configuration:
– 1 suite on the ground floor
– 3 bedrooms on the upper floor
Key value-enhancing element:
dovecote transformed into an architectural and distribution pivot
Landscape intervention:
reconfigured terraces (restanques) from barrier to habitable gradation
Approach:
renovation without demolition, reading of the existing character
Construction cost:
≈ €1,800/m²
Project objective:
increase the perceived quality, usability, and desirability of the property

When the owners of this villa in Mougins contacted us, as architects specialized in residential renovation, the house had already undergone a renovation. Yet something wasn’t working: underutilized spaces, a forgotten dovecote, a layout that didn’t enhance the existing surface area. The client was seeking quality, not additional square meters.

Our diagnosis was clear: it wasn’t about demolishing, it was about seeing. Seeing what others had failed to perceive. The Daimon of the place — its deep essence, its distinctive character — was hidden, not absent. Our mission: to reveal it.

This is the DAIMON Method: in-depth analysis precedes any intervention. We do not add volumes or impose any style: we reveal the existing potential and enhance according to the character of the place. The result is authentic architecture, capable of moving without waste.

Revealing the Hidden Potential

The villa presented a volumetric composition that many would have judged disorderly: five distinct rectangular forms, interlocked without apparent symmetry. We recognized in it a spontaneous center: a fragmentation that creates a human scale, intimacy, and a direct relationship with the territory.

This fragmentation naturally generated a hierarchy of exterior spaces — domestic « layers »: from the most intimate part of the house, through hybrid zones, to the wilder garden beyond the fence. An archetype to respect, not to break with monolithic interventions.

The Dovecote: Aristocratic Element Reduced to a Passageway

Inserted during the 1980s construction, the dovecote — a cylindrical form evoking historical pigeon houses — had been reduced to a transit area with a French door. A volume four meters in diameter: too small to be furnished, too large to be ignored.

The staircase was located elsewhere, in a generic position. The dovecote, visible but uninhabitable, represented a lost opportunity.

The Hallway that Stole Square Meters

The previous renovation had created an 80 cm hallway, taking away space from secondary bathrooms without adding quality. A layout that didn’t justify the overall surface area. On the ground floor, a standard-sized master bedroom and a bedroom for the children. Upstairs, only two bedrooms. Four bedrooms in total, no superior-level suite.

The staircase was located elsewhere, in a generic position. The dovecote, visible but uninhabitable, represented a lost opportunity.

The Restanques: Barrier or Gradation

The restanques, more than 2.30 m high, isolated the house from the 8,000 m² garden. A physical and visual barrier making the farthest part of the land inaccessible. The garden existed, but was not lived in.

The first restanque, backed against the house, completely closed off the space. No dialogue between the home and nature, only a clear cut.

Such was the challenge: not to add square meters, but to make those that existed habitable. Not to build new volumes, but to unlock the hidden potential. The DAIMON method requires reading the place carefully, grasping what others do not see.

Strategy — The Master Bedroom and the Liberated Dovecote

Residential Segment Upgrade

The ground floor bedroom was transformed into a suite with a private bathroom and dressing room. The passage from the public area (kitchen–living room) to the bedroom is punctuated by buffer spaces: a gradation of intimacy, not a simple door that separates. This elevated the villa’s category without increasing the built volume.

The other three bedrooms were arranged upstairs, with a small mezzanine to improve the functionality of one of them. An additional bathroom was reorganized to enhance its quality.

The Dovecote: from Passageway to Sculpture

We removed the French door, closed the curved wall, and inserted a helical staircase in wood and brass. Zenithal light from the top: openings in the upper part of the cylinder allow beams of light to descend, brushing against the walls and the staircase. A double-line handrail, wooden steps, an exterior cladding in brass.

The dovecote has become the pivot of the house: a scenographic element visible from all spaces, distributing vertically with elegance. What was unusable is now the architectural heart of the villa.

The Living Space and the Reclaimed Garden

Dining Room with Fireplace and Water Mirror

The living space was a dysfunctional hybrid: central staircase, unused dovecote, corner fireplace in an anonymous volume. We freed up the space by moving the staircase into the dovecote, creating a separate dining room with a travertine fireplace placed on an outdoor water mirror.

The weight/lightness contrast — a mass of stone seeming to float on water — constitutes the central architectural effect. Central fireplace, symmetrical openings, table in the center: a dedicated space, not dispersed. The rest becomes a pure living area, and the kitchen retains its original position.

The Harmonized Restanques

We transformed the 2.30 m barrier into three tiers of approximately one meter. Permeable travertine floors accompany the descent toward the garden. The transition is now progressive: from the house to the domestic garden, all the way to the preserved wild areas, with small organic pathways that allow its use.

8,000 m² made accessible, not through invasive structures, but through attentive reading of the territory. The DAIMON method favors natural order over forced construction.

The Facades — Authenticity and Coherence

Analysis of Disruptive Elements

We conducted a rigorous analysis of the facades to distinguish what should be enhanced from what should be removed. Objective: to respect tradition without falling into pastiche. We do not artificially reconstruct elements from the past. We only rebuild if they assume their original function.

Overly rustic shutters removed, not relevant in the Provençal tradition. Elements of fake wrought iron with visible welds taken out, inconsistent with local craftsmanship quality.

External Thermal Insulation with Respect

We carried out an energy retrofit using external thermal insulation. We did not recreate fake traditional elements, but sought to dialogue with the old in a gentle and coherent manner. Reinforced concrete arches, decorations without function, dripstones that don’t drip: all of this is foreign to our approach.

This philosophy is developed in our article « Architecture of Deception, » available on the blog.

8,000 m² made accessible, not through invasive structures, but through attentive reading of the territory. The DAIMON method favors natural order over forced construction.

Result — Maximum Effect, Controlled Resources

Enhancement Comes from the Project

With this renovation, we maintained a construction cost of approximately €1,800/m², in line with market value. The owners’ surprise was precisely this: superior quality with targeted resources.

How did we achieve this result? By concentrating resources on strategic interventions: the helical staircase, the selected travertine, the water mirror. Appropriate materials, not necessarily expensive: engineered wood flooring, quality finishes within the market range. Zero waste.

For us, luxury is not waste: it is authenticity, order, proportion. It is culture, poetry, emotion. It is well-designed spaces. Architecture possesses a powerful enhancement lever when it stems from the character of the place.

We build in the Italian way: quality, durable elements that nourish the soul. We work with integrity and ethics, because waste is not only energetic — it is also cultural.

Our real estate background guides the project: architecture is not merely form, but a concrete lever for heritage enhancement.

Overly rustic shutters removed, not relevant in the Provençal tradition. Elements of fake wrought iron with visible welds taken out, inconsistent with local craftsmanship quality.

Before investing, some places deserve to be understood.

We intervene upstream, where the decision precedes the project and where value is revealed through insightful observation.

Take the time to understand a place before committing.

Contact us right now

Each project deserves a high level of attention to highlight its essence and bring unique value. Contact us to discuss your project, whether at the beginning or during its development.

Daimon Design is a Franco-Italian architecture studio based in Grasse, on the French Riviera. Specializing in energy renovation and real estate enhancement, we design elegant and thermally efficient architectural interventions for existing buildings, including extensions and additions.