Le Mas* survived the mayhem wrought by the French Revolution that affected the Languedoc Estates, of which Montpellier was the capital. Jean-Jacques Louis Durand, owner of the beautiful Valflaunès property and the town’s first mayor to be elected by universal suffrage, went to the guillotine on 12 January 1794 at the age of 33 (he refused to apply the terror guidelines).

Mas Bruguière, formerly “Mas de la Plaine”, was part of a more impressive ensemble that included Mas Rigaud, le Mazet and la Plaine, together known as the “Métairies du Mas Rigaud” (Mas Rigaud small holdings). These assets were seized and sold as State assets, with the exception of those of Valflaunès which Durand’s widow was to recover at the time of the Restoration. Almost ruined, she put la Plaine up for auction. This was purchased by Antoine, the first in a long line of Bruguière to live there. The first building, currently the head office, was built in the early 1800s with a wing added in 1863. The Mas continued its architectural transformation with the addition of a beautiful veranda overlooking the terrace that opens to the sky and a horizon of vineyards.

* Mas: farm, small holding, agricultural estate, occasionally a hamlet. “Mas” comes from the “Oc” language, derived from the Latin “mansum”.