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Villa Rochelle
is a recently built home, conceived and designed with all
modern comforts, but also with some elements characteristic
of the Seychelle tradition.
The roof lined with the corrugated sheeting of Creole architecture,
unmistakable feature of all the houses in the Seychelles,
high ceilings with their exposed timber beams and long-bladed
fans in each room, the spacious veranda with the traditional
bamboo curtains, the little gazebo by the seaside, with its
corrugated roof and carved Takamaka table.
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exterior of the house |
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the house seen from
the garden |
The simple and comfortable furniture is wholly handmade by
local craftsmen, a true tradition that has grown up thanks
to the precious local timbers with their exotic-sounding names:
Takamaka, Calice du Pape, Casuarina, Teak.
The house is surrounded by a garden
that gently slopes down to the sea. Its protagonists are coconut
palms straining towards the light and the sea, framed by frangipani
trees with their sweet-smelling flowers, hibiscus, and other
tropical plants and shrubs.
With a sound track provided by the birds: the blackbird of
the Seychelles, known in Creole as “pie chanteuse”,
the scop owl, the gannets, the partridges, all of whom will
keep you company with their cheerful presence.
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view onto the sea |
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the sea seen from the
gazebo |
Villa Rochelle is a spacious home, as snug and cosy as you
could wish, but it is the sea,
with its reefs of granite fashioned by the wind that sets
its tone and atmosphere, the sea that renders its panorama
unique, mutable and ever-changing throughout the day. A sea
that will rock you to sleep at night with its sudden rumbles,
while its slow backwash will accompany you in the morning
as you take your first coffee on the veranda, and also as
dusk descends in the evening, when you can enjoy a shower
in the midst of the garden’s tropical vegetation and
bid the sun farewell as it disappears beneath the horizon.
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the garden |
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Except when the sea gets too rough, you can always have
a swim along the coast that stretches in front of the house,
or go snorkelling and admire a multitude of fish of every
imaginable colour and size.
A home that makes you live by the sea, but well protected
by its walls. It is not an isolated house, for it is flanked
by other houses with gardens, and yet is silent, reserved
and wholly enveloped in its privacy. At any time and in
all tranquillity, you can have a barbecue in the garden,
take the sun on the rocks or the deckchairs in front of
the house, admire the star-studded sky at night and have
your dinner by candlelight.
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veranda drawing room |
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dining area on the
veranda |
As in all the Seychelle homes, The
veranda is the most important part of the
home, the place where social life runs its course, the transition
space that harmonizes the within and the without. Where you
fell protected and at the same time immersed in the light,
the wind, the warmth, and the breezes and the odours of the
sea. At the centre of the veranda there is the great dining
table and, just a few steps away, the cane lounge suite, where
you can relax and enjoy the fresh air sweeping in from the
beach.
The ample drawing room
is well equipped for many different activities: music, television,
video recorder, a large table for games and writing (and
also eating if you wish), a suite with divan and armchairs.
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the drawing room |
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the four-piece suite |
The kitchen,
equipped to meet all the culinary needs of the guests, is
organized with a block consisting of a cook top with five
gas-fired burners and an electric oven, kitchen utensils for
preparing even the most elaborate of meals, a mixer/liquidizer,
a toaster, a kettle for making tea and … a set of variously
sized coffee percolators for espresso coffee.
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the kitchen |
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another view of the
kitchen |
There are two bedrooms,
one with two single beds and the other with a double bed,
2 m long by 1.80 m wide. The double bedroom looks out on the
garden and the sea. The double curtains and the windows, which
open either way, enable you to regulate the light and the
air that come into the room just as you prefer.
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bedroom with two beds |
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double bedroom |
The bathroom is equiped
with a large brick-built shower cubicle, a bidet, hot and
cold water, a hair drier.
The house can offer hospitality for
up to four person.
In case of need, a folding bed could be added for a child
or youngster.
The car can be parked in the space set aside for this purpose
in the courtyard of the house.
The stay includes, weekly changes of bed and bath linens,
and the daily cleaning of the house from Monday to Friday
(Holidays excluded).
How to get there
The villa is situated in a locality known as Machabee, some
15 minutes by car to the north of Victoria, the capital.
Our caretaker will come to meet you at Mahé International
Airport on the day of your arrival and accompany you to the
villa.
How to book a car
We can help you to book a car from a care hire company. The
cost for a car Daihatsu Sirion (type Peugeot 206, five-seater
with four doors) with air conditioning amounts to 50 Euro
per day. If you wish, we can book the car for the length of
your stay. You can then settle the bill directly with the
hirer.
Remember, however, that in Mahé you
drive on the left.
Features of the house in a nutshell
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covered floor area 120 sq.m |
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garden area 200 sq.m |
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sleeps 2-4 people |
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double bedroom, second bedroom with two beds.
large drawing room, large kitchen (extra bed if required) |
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long-bladed ceiling fans in every room |
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bathroom with large shower cubicle |
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veranda |
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small safe |
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hair dryer |
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television set |
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video recorder |
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wireless set and cassette stereo |
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iron and ironing-board |
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washing machine |
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kitchenware, tableware and crockery |
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linen (sheets, towels, etc.) |
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cushions in natural latex |
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