a day (and a half) in Provence

The invitation arrived casually, the way these things often do: Come to Provence. I said yes, of course, picturing lavender fields, stone walls, perfectly puckered olives and lots of toile de jouy. What I got instead was a portal—into another life, another version of myself, one who owns diaphanous linen nightgowns and is finicky about which organic olive oil she slathers on her baguettes.

Domaine de la Cavalerie once belonged to Emanuel Ungaro, the legendary Italian designer who trained under Balenciaga and made his name in the ‘80s on bold prints, sculptural silhouettes, and a romantic sense of glamour. His muses? Jackie O, Catherine Deneuve, Princess Caroline—the sort of women who understood the power of a well-cut dress and a little drama.

Originally a Knights Templar commandery from the 12th century, the 160-acre estate near Aix-en-Provence now has 5,000 olive trees that produce an award-winning (read: baguette-making) olive oil. It is being exquisitely reimagined by Ungaro’s 35-year-old daughter Cosima and her American-born husband Austin Feilders. Situated in the foothills of the Luberon mountains, surrounded by forests of pines, poplars, oaks, figs and limes, bequeathed with heirlooms from Ungaro’s Paris hôtel particulier, Domaine de la Cavalerie is—in short—sensory-overload chic.

Cosima and Austin possess the kind of style that doesn’t announce itself, but is instantly legible to those who know. They divide their time between Domaine de la Cavalerie and Paris, where they run Concept, a creative agency with a client list that includes LVMH and Kering, and a social circle that reads like a who's who of the Paris art and fashion scene: Alex de Betak, Lolita Jacobs, Pieter Mulier. You get the idea.

Their Provençal endeavor is part restoration fantasy, part modern hospitality venture, dipped in mind-blowing, low-acidity organic olive oil. The estate—still under construction/wraps until this summer—will open to a small number of highly discerning guests, the kind who can tell the difference between Nebbiolo and a Pinot Noir with their eyes closed. It is, in a word, exceptional.

Over the course of 36 hours, I was treated to what can only be described as heaven: meals were cooked by Bernardo Constantino, a former Noma chef, flown in from Copenhagen just for our visit; Farinoman Fou Aix bread grilled and glossed with the estate’s own olive oil (the most peppery, velvet-y oil I’ve ever tasted, bottled in a sleek stainless steel container that we are all going to want perched on our kitchen counter!), served alongside farmer’s market-fresh artichokes, aubergine, red peppers and white asparagus that somehow managed to feel decadent and home-y all at once.

We wandered through olive groves and Florentine tiled halls, pausing only to corral the couple’s three children—each under four, each fluent in French, Italian, and English, and all possessing the kind of tousled hair that suggests a life without screen time.

Cosima herself is a presence: Parisian in bearing, Botticellian in hair, dressed in that perfectly imprecise way only the truly stylish manage—one night in a fitted black knit dress, chunky, vintage-looking gold necklaces (similar here and here), and red pointy-toe flats, another in oversized green corduroys, a suede brown overshirt, and worn-in boat shoes. She speaks English in the manner only Europeans can: flawlessly, with just enough accent to make you feel provincial.

It was just my second time in the South of France. My first in Provence. And yet they made me feel instantly at ease. Or rather, they made me feel as if I had always belonged there—drinking thyme-infused tea, deciding how much of their olive oil I wanted to drizzle over my al dente pasta, and wandering through neighboring Gordes, antiquing in L’Isle sur La Sorgue, gasping over the blue chip art at Chateau La Coste and Fondation Maeght, driving through Les Beaux-de-Provence’s rocky outcrops—all dressed like usual in a casual J.Crew barn jacket and straight-leg Joe’s Jeans (both pictured below), a Jenni Kayne lightweight cashmere sweater, this belted Goop cardigan, and this Cos crisp shirt. (I also packed this pretty dress on sale right now for $39!, but it was too cold to wear—next time!)

Domaine de la Cavalerie will open its gates in July. Quietly. Beautifully. I hope to be there again.