La Ferme de Brouage

An 18th-Century Barn Conversion Becomes a Modern, Slow Living-Focused Farm Stay

A slow-living focused eco-retreat in the fertile coastal inlands of France’s Atlantic Charente-Maritime region, this five-cottage property has been featured in French food magazine Le Fooding, Le Monde’s M Magazine, Holiday Architecture, and Zeit Magazin.

Merging centenary walls with modern eco-architecture in clay, concrete, hemp and lime, and filled with furnishings handcrafted by the owners, this natural oasis oozes simple country charms and a distinctive Scandi sensibility due to its redesign by Lsl Architects. The multi-unit property promises an abundance of farm-fresh produce in addition to a shared, 12m x 6m pool, an on-site woodland and marshy pond, and easy access to the beach (about 30 minutes' drive).

Four of the bright, minimalist lodgings are located in a former agricultural outbuilding, and all differ in size, each renovated with contemporary built-in furnishing designs (libraries, partitions, bancos, tables). The fifth accommodation is set in an ancient former dovecote with views of the surrounding fields and forests.

Gite #1: With occupancy for eight, and a 48-square-meter living area under cathedral ceilings, this three bedroom stay (two doubles, one room with four twins) has three bathrooms, one with a double-sized shower for cleaning up a clan of kids efficiently!

Gite #2: Created for four guests, this cottage’s 38-square-meter living area is bright and spacious, with cathedral ceilings and an open-plan kitchen. There’s a private terrace, one queen bed in a lofted mezzanine space, and one ground floor bedroom with a pair of twin beds, plus one bathroom.

Gite #3: Ideal for five guests, this space benefits from an oversized living/kitchen/dining area under cathedral ceilings. A queen-sized bedroom is located on its lower level, with a room for three kids (three twin beds) upstairs, and a shared bathroom.

Gite #4: An extra-large accommodation for 14 guests, this five-bedroom, 11-bed space has four bathrooms and a generous living room/kitchen/dining area of 50-square-meters. There’s a mezzanine library with wood built-ins, three queen bedrooms and two double bunkrooms, and great views from the giant, floor-to-ceiling bank of windows/doors that open to the terrace, equipped with a dining table and barbecue grill.

Gite #5: A cozy, independent cottage for five in an ancient dovecote at the heart of the farm, this tower features a ground floor, 26-square-meter living area and two upstairs bedrooms, one a queen and the other a kids’ room set with three twin beds. There’s a shared bathroom and private terrace.

Additional features

The farm is a working organic property, with all-you-can-pick produce available to guests for preparing in the modern, farm-styled cottage kitchens. From April to October, there are tomatoes, carrots, onions, eggplant, squashes, potatoes, cucumbers and berries available for picking, plus 40 varieties of aromatic herbs. You can be your own five star chef, as the farm grows a dazzling variety for Michelin star chefs, including 25 varieties of tomatoes to choose from.

There’s a natural marshy pond on site, with healing clay banks and plenty of resident frogs. The farm itself is ideal for exploring, and the owners’ host workshops and cultural events on-site throughout the year, including concerts and open-air cinema nights, performance arts shows and children’s events.

An electric vehicle charging station 22kw/h is available.

Around

Located in La Gripperie Saint Symphorien, a Roman village in the heart of France’s Atlantic, Charente-Maritime region, the farm is located about 30 minutes’ drive from the region’s celebrated “Côte Sauvage,” or wild coastline, an area of rolling dunes, pine forests and legendary wind surf spots. Protected marshlands as well as vineyards extend into the landscape around the farm, and the region is known for its small villages punctuated by Roman churches and sharply angled, unequal rooflines. This is a photogenic region of change-with-the-tides oyster growers' communities, sea-salt harvesting beds, and small fishing ports.

The farm is ideally located between the small cities of Rochefort, Saintes, and Royan, and set near the oyster beds and fishing outposts found around Marennes Oléron, with easy access to the islands of Ré, Aix, and Oleron. Area beaches are famed for their surfing and wind/kite surfing, and this area of the Atlantic is also a favorite of sailors. Seafood is abundant in the area, bright, mineral-y white wines are a trademark, and the greater inland Charente region is also home to producers of the aperitif, Pineau de Charente and to the fine, after-dinner Cognac and Armagnac brandies.

Location

La Gripperie Saint Symphorien, Charente-Maritime, France. Nearest airport: Bordeaux (30 miles)

Best time to visit

April to October