Urban Exploration - Yvonne's Farm

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Here is a visit to a large wine-growing farm, truly splendid and steeped in history. Unfortunately, the site is starting to become known, and its isolation makes it an easy target. Consequently, there is no shortage of damage. Nevertheless, by searching the house from top to bottom, some documentation was found.

During this visit, a thunderous Mistral wind was blowing. As a result, doors were slamming everywhere. It was terrifying! If you find doorstops at every door in my photos, now you know why!

The farm was the seat of a vast wine estate well-known in the region. The outbuildings house a wine cellar (chai) and a large press. The estate itself is being devoured by vegetation. An old Renault Series 10 tractor sits under the porch of the mas, almost like a decoration. The vineyards are overgrown with weeds and are slowly disappearing.

The vineyard was a joint possession (indivision). It was managed by Jean. Barring a namesake (which is always a possibility), he reportedly passed away in March 1986 at the age of 72.

Also involved in the management was Edouard, an agricultural engineer from Montpellier. He passed away in April 1998 at the age of 84. A veteran and former member of the Resistance, he was awarded the Reconnaissance de la Nation medal and the Croix du Combattant de l'Europe.

The last relative connected to the estate was Jean-Louis, extremely well-known in the area. The former foreman and cellar master was Justo, who passed away in January 2020. In the fall of 2020, a judicial liquidation procedure was launched for the company. In 2016, the estate's trademark was not renewed.

The ancestors of this estate were Louis and Yvonne. They are the individuals for whom we find the most documentation. Regarding Yvonne, numerous old letters suggest she had family ties to Vichy, in the Allier department.

We located many documents addressed to Louis, who in 1945 was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 38th Infantry Regiment. A central figure and pillar of this multi-century-old mas, he played an important role during the Second World War. He was born in October 1886 and married the aforementioned Louise Yvonne in 1912. Louis was appointed Officer of the Légion d'Honneur and received the Order of the White Eagle of Serbia. He was a former professor at the War College (École de Guerre) in Paris and was later attached to the Staff of the President of the Republic, Gaston Doumergue.

They had a son, the previously mentioned Edouard, born in 1913.

There are many traces of Monique, who "might" have been Yvonne's niece. She passed away in November 2023 at the age of 79. Jean-Louis, the last relative of the estate, was Monique's brother.

The exact reason for the abandonment of this mas is unknown to us. However, through the reading of this great family saga, one can reach a single plausible conclusion: there is no longer any family left to manage it, and it was never sold. Consequently, the usual depredations of abandonment have set in—we know the drill.