La Cabane du Moulin

Double the Adventure

One part wellness-retreat-meets-boho-adventure-cabin, one part family-focused-slow-living-getaway, this multilevel wooden outpost does double duty with its unique location, too. The home stands tall and timbered within a protected woodland, yet it is only minutes away from France’s top surf beach at Hossegor and the glittering coastal enclave of Biarritz.

Spacious and serene, the triple-story wooden home sleeps eight in four bedrooms. Three, adjacent ground-floor bedrooms share a bath with double sinks, whereas the primary room on the home's middle level has its own ensuite bath with a shower. Two low-key, natural living rooms invite cocooning, and the home’s open-plan kitchen/dining area on the top floor is chef’s quality with well-appointed dining spaces both indoors and out on the upper-level dining deck.

Experiences on offer include Lebanese- and Armenian-inspired meals prepared by the home’s chef/owner, and yoga, meditation, phytotherapy and crafting opportunities via ToTum, the home’s on-site wellness branch, guided by the cabana’s co-owner and art therapist. The couple behind the property are travelers, nature lovers, parents, wellness practitioners and cultural explorers, former Parisians, who have found their nirvana in the woods near the sea.

Around

Located in the piney forest one kilometer from small coastal town of Saubion, the house offers a traditional slice of life in Les Landes, the dune-covered region on France’s southwest coast. A world-famous surfing destination, big wave chasers come for the mighty breaks that result from the area’s deep, underwater trench offshore. Coveted sands in Hossegor include La Gravière (12 km), les Culs Nuls (11 km), Is Estagnots (11 km) and La Nord, beaches where majestic swells crash onto the fine white sand also ideal for sunbathing.

Hossegor’s marine lake, a 15-minute drive from the home, is encircled by waterfront bars, restaurants and intimate oyster and fish huts, and its busy town center offers Michelin-starred dining and all needed goods and services. Paddle boarding and kayaking can be done on the lake, and sunsets (and sunrises) on the water are spectacular.

The region’s famed Capbreton fish market is a quick drive, a marketplace where dozens of fishing boats deliver their daily catch. Coastal exploration to the south will lead to the elegant seaside resort town of Biarritz, a European royal playground that earned notoriety in the 1800s, set on the gleaming Bay of Biscay. Continuing south, the slow-living, oceanfront village of Bidart is a traditional, Basque Country coastal favorite, and bordering Spain, St. Jean de Luz, is a pretty fishing village known for its regal architecture and museums. (King Louis XIV married Maria Theresa of Spain here once upon a time ago.) Medieval Bayonne is located inland and well worth a day trip, too.

Location

Nearest airport: Biarritz (35km); San Sebastian, Spain (68km)

Best time to visit

April to November