This magical house: Anne M Jones visits Maison Quaker de Congénies

‘We quickly formed a warm community.’

by Anne M Jones 31st October 2025

An art retreat in Provence sounded the perfect idea after a very fraught year, and I was correct. Maison Quaker de Congénies, in the Gard district of south France (Occitanie), is a 200-year-old country house. Honey-coloured buildings cluster around a large thirteenth-century church, now closed, from which a bell tolls every evening, beside the village pump, and where pale blue flowers and bright pink bougainvillea peep over archway walls. The ancient Occitan language is evident in some street names, such as Chemin de Negue Saume (a metaphor for a time when the area could be flooded, I was told).