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Sur le Toit

1-Bedroom 1.5-Bath Apartment with Beautiful Sea View in the Heart of the Old Town of Villefranche
  • Vacation rental, Old Town apartment with beautiful views of the bay, the village street below, the pretty terracotta rooftops and Cap Ferrat
  • Bright, airy, top-floor apartment (2nd floor) in the heart of the Old Town
  • AC, WiFi, spacious office area, Smart TV with English and French stations, DVD, stereo with Bluetooth
  • Perfect location in quiet corner of the Old Town, within walking distance to everything: beach, restaurants, markets
  • Remodeled to a very high quality with all the modern amenities you would want as well as lovely antiques, colorful art from artists of Villefranche, excellent bed and linen, gourmet kitchen and beautiful bathrooms
This is the view from Sur le Toit overlooking the rooftops to the bay and Cap Ferrat. Sitting on the window seat is a great way to spend a few hours from this private perch. You can watch the comings and goings of village life on the street below. This apartment is especially popular with guests who stay for long stays and come every year.
When you arrive to Sur le Toit, you are welcomed by this bright spacious room with cathedral ceilings, skylights, sunshine and beautiful views of the bay and village. The main room includes a fully equipped kitchen for someone who loves to cook, a dining area and living area. The cathedral ceilings, skylights and stone walls give this apartment a very spacious, beautiful, Old World feel.
The dining area features an antique oak library table with seating for six to eight. A window seat looks out to sea and across rooftops to other village views. The painting, by Jean-Michel Eckert, one of Villefranche's most well-known artists, is an old scene from his youth, of local villagers selling garlic and onions at Place de la Paix.
The living room features a comfortable sofa, two armchairs, a coffee table and great reading lights. The Sicilian painting is part of a series of Ulysses’ voyage home to Ithaca. The beautiful stone walls are over 600 years old. The stairwell to arrive to the apartment is to the left, in a turret-like part of the building.
In between the two windows and window seats is a lovely antique buffet that houses the stereo system, Smart TV and DVD player. The buffet unit also serves as a convenient bar. The dining table is a great place to sit and enjoy a meal or curl up with a book and have little nap. There are two reading lights on either side of the day bed.
Here is the view sitting at the window seats or from the sofa looking over the rooftops to the sea and Cap Ferrat in the distance. At night, the lights on the bay are magical plus the beautiful villas across the water are all lit up.
A hallway leads from the main living space to the back of the apartment. Off this hallway is an office, a half bath, and then at the end, where you can see a window, the master bath and the master bedroom. Skylights fill the apartment with bright light and fresh air.
The master bedroom has a sunny window overlooking rue Volti, a charming pedestrian street where many locals live. The original artwork includes this painting, the view from the top of Mont Boron overlooking Villefranche and the bay. You can enjoy the beautiful hike to this spot, just an hour round-trip from this apartment's front door. You'll see all the way to Bordighera, Italy!
The master bedroom has an excellent queen-sized bed, beautiful linen, plenty of closet and storage space, two bedside tables with reading lights, an armchair, and lighting on dimmers that create a lovely ambiance in the room.
The master bathroom is ensuite to the bedroom but can also open to the main hallway of the apartment.
The master bath includes a soaking tub with shower, a toilet, a sink with plenty of counterspace and storage for toiletries and a lovely mirror with excellent lighting.
This photo shows the sink and mirrored cabinet in the master bath which provides plenty space for toiletries. Outside the window is the clothesline to dry your clothes, although there is a drying rack inside if you prefer. The window overlooks the charming pedestrian street below and provides wonderful fresh air and a cross breeze for the apartment.
The half-bath has a toilet, sink with plenty of counter space, and the washing machine and furnace. The half-bath is off the main hallway, across from the office area.
The office is nicely tucked away into a closet (behind the door that's just a bit open). There is WiFi, a fixed phone line with free international calling, and plenty of outlets to charge your devices. The desk is large, has excellent lighting, and plenty of shelves and storage. It's a great place to work and stash all your electronics.
You are looking down rue Volti, where Sur le Toit is located. It is the second building in on the right, pale yellow, with plants growing up the first floor wall. You enter the building here. We own all three apartments in this building. Rue Volti is a lovely pedestrian street with many local families still living here. You'll enjoy the sounds of village life.
Next to rue Volti is rue Baron de Bres and our lovely neighbors in their mid-90s, still living independently in their own apartments! They even cook their own meals! They say the secret to longevity is the stairs!
Villefranche from the waterfront. Beautiful, colorful, 600-year-old buildings that cascade down the hillside to the sea. You will never tire of its charm and beauty.
A scene of local life at our little marina, the Darse. The boat scene on the bay of Villefranche is constantly changing, very exciting and fun, and beautiful.

Sur le Toit

1 bed, 1.5 bath

This apartment is available for long term rental

Map of Sur le Toit
Location of Sur le Toit is circled on the map.
Click to view in Google Maps.

About the Location

Sur le Toit is on the second floor of our rue Volti building, just steps away from the charming Place de la Paix, the beach, and the waterfront quai.  It is in the heart of the Old Town, a one- or two-minute walk to everything. There are only three apartments in the building, Sur le Toit plus our other two apartments, Le Beau Balcon and the Artist’s Atelier.  Rue Volti, a well known pedestrian street in the village, is named after our most famous local artist. Many local families live on this street and a lovely, authentic village life and culture is alive and well. The artist, Volti, lived just down the street from this apartment. He was most famous for his sculptures, especially of women. There is an excellent collection of his work at the Volti museum, displayed in a spectacular space in Villefranche’s citadel, which is absolutely worth a visit and just a 5-minute walk away.

The Old Town of Villefranche (all pedestrian) rises from the waterfront quai, up the hillside to Place de la Paix, an important crossroads of the village, where village life unfolds. You will find a lovely olive tree with benches all around where many locals gather and chat. You will also find the butcher, a green grocer, a boulangerie and a pharmacy. In addition, there is a café and a couple of restaurants, which offer an enjoyable spot to observe village life.

The 600-year-old building has a lovely position overlooking the bay and the charming pedestrian street Rue de May, which is lined with colorful, medieval buildings and plants that cascade down the hillside to the waterfront. As you look out the window to the bay and the colorful rue de May, you can easily imagine what life was like here 200 years ago, as you are living a slice of it while here, yet in much more comfort.  You do not need a car as public transport is just steps away and everything is walking distance.  Read more About Villefranche.

  • Vacation rental, Old Town apartment with beautiful views of the bay, the village street below, the pretty terracotta rooftops and Cap Ferrat
  • Bright, airy, top-floor apartment (2nd floor) in the heart of the Old Town
  • AC, WiFi, spacious office area, Smart TV with English and French stations, DVD, stereo with Bluetooth
  • Perfect location in quiet corner of the Old Town, within walking distance to everything: beach, restaurants, markets
  • Remodeled to a very high quality with all the modern amenities you would want as well as lovely antiques, colorful art from artists of Villefranche, excellent bed and linen, gourmet kitchen and beautiful bathrooms

About the Apartment

You enter the building and walk up a stairwell to the front door of this apartment. The second stairwell, somewhat like a stairwell in a turret, is interior to the apartment — very charming and very old, with a window overlooking one of the pedestrian streets. At the top of the stairwell you are in the main room of the apartment where you find the living, dining and kitchen areas. It is a large room with cathedral ceilings, old wooden beams and exposed stone walls that are over 600 years old. The painting hung on one of the ancient stone walls is a work by our well-known local artist Nani Eckert, and depicts the local villagers — the “Marchands d’Ail and Poisson” — the local merchants who used to sell garlic and fish at Place de la Paix, just above where the apartment is located. From this room you see the view over the rooftops to the bay of Villefranche, the myriad of beautiful yachts, and sun-drenched Cap Ferrat with its gorgeous villas and gardens, including Villa Rothschild on the top of Cap Ferrat that’s beautifully lit up at night. You see this view from all aspects of this room: the sofa, the dining table, and the cozy window seats. The room is filled with light as it receives sun all day and has four large sky lights. The décor of the apartment is very comfortable with a bit of a Provençal / rustic style to compliment the ancient beams and stone walls.

Throughout the apartment there is lovely lighting, all on dimmers, to provide a wonderful ambiance in the evening, plus excellent reading lights for when you want to lose yourself in a book. In addition, we put in lovely art from different artists that we have collected from around the world as well as from some of Villefranche’s finest artists. And we furnish with a combination of antiques bought here in France as well as new items, such as sofas and beds. Each of our apartments has a unique look — none of them are alike — other than they all have an office area, WiFi, Smart TVs (with French- and English-speaking stations), new gourmet kitchens, new bathrooms, and are fully equipped to be your “home away from home.”

Apartment Amenities

The dining area features an antique oak farm table with comfortable chairs on one side and a day bed / bench on the other — a perfect place to curl up in the sun, enjoy the view, read a book or organize your day while enjoying a cup of coffee or sipping a glass of wine.

The kitchen, although Provençal in design, is in fact brand new and designed for the ­gourmet cook, with all the dishes, pots and pans, utensils, and appliances to make lovely meals using the ingredients from the local fishermen and fresh markets nearby. Features include a gas stove, dishwasher, and granite counter tops.

The lounge area features a very comfortable sofa with a lovely view of the bay and is also a great place for a nap. In addition, there are two comfortable armchairs and a coffee table.

There is a lovely buffet which holds the Smart TV which includes French and English stations through our satellite dish and a DVD player. The stereo has a Bluetooth connection so you can play your music.

Although Sur le Toit does not have a balcony, as it was not traditional in the old days to have balconies on the top floors (as these were the attic spaces), the charming windows have large window seats with comfortable cushions built in, where two people can sit, or one can curl up with a morning coffee and have a close-up look at the view of the terracotta rooftops descending to the sea, the beautiful bay and Cap Ferrat. During the day the apartment is filled with beautiful, light, sun and color. At night the soft lighting of the Old Town and the exquisitely lit villas on Cap Ferrat provide a view that you never tire of looking at.

From the main room you are led to a wide hallway where on one side there is a built-in office (with WiFi and a fixed phone line) and on the other side a half bathroom where the washing machine is also located. Also from in this hallway area, there is a small coat closet and the entrance to the master bedroom and main bathroom. There is a skylight over this hall way providing lovely light, plus a view through to the back of the apartment overlooking Rue Volti, a lovely pedestrian street.

Bedroom & Bath

The bedroom features an excellent queen-sized bed (our customers comment on how nice our beds are), two nightstands with reading lights, and two large clothes closet. The master bedroom also has a lovely French window looking onto a charming pedestrian street. Ensuite to the master bedroom is the main bathroom which features a wonderful soaking tub / shower, a sink with plenty of counter space, a mirrored cabinet with lots of storage, and a toilet. The bathroom has a lovely window overlooking the same charming pedestrian street as the bedroom.