The most important thing you must know about our home, is the name ; Lou Tinaou (The Big Barrel). Typical old French homes are usually named. Our home in particular has a very interesting history and meaning behind it. Built in 1817, the house was first a part of a monastery. This is where the meaning of the name comes into play; The monks who used to live here made wine, hence the name "Lou Tinaou". There used to be another smaller house on the property, that has since been destroyed, that used to be the cave where the wine was stored. The main part of the house, which is where we live today, was where the wine was made. We don't know when the monastery came to an end, but we do know that later the house became a small silk factory. Farmers bought the house, and for extra money they produced silk in what is now our family room. We can see the reminisce of four chimneys in the living room, which were used to smoke the silk cocoons. From that point on we know there were other home owners, but 13 years ago we bought the house.
We thought that we would give a virtual tour of the house, so we will start with our favorite place in the house, the balcony. We live on the balcony all summer. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are eaten on the table pictured below. And there is a beautiful view of the pool and trees.
Next we have the kitchen, which is the heart of the house. Many meals have been cooked here, and the room is always crowded with friends and family.
Next we have one of the bedrooms. You will see in the photos that we have mosquito nets over our beds, because we often like to sleep with the windows open because of the heat.
Finally I will end this post with the view from our house, which can be see from the balcony. The sunsets are always so beautiful, and are a great back drop to our dinners every night.
