Travel journal · Trip idea · Large houses
Renting a large house for 10 to 25 people: our advice and our addresses
Bringing the whole family together, celebrating a birthday, getting away with fifteen friends: a large house changes everything. Everyone has a bedroom, the table is long enough for all, and nobody shuttles between two rentals. You still have to find it. Here is how to choose, and our large houses for 10 to 22 guests, all with at least five bedrooms, from Normandy to the Basque Country.
- Ten large houses for 10 to 22 guests, in six regions, from Normandy to the Basque Country.
- For very big groups: Les Gaties (22 guests) and Clos Lavaux (20 guests, 10 bedrooms).
- With a pool: seven houses, including a heated indoor pool and a spa at La Motte Féodale.
- Near Paris: Cochefilet in Essonne, La Motte Féodale and Le Clos du Veneur in the Eure.
- Book early: large houses are rare and go first, especially in summer and for the holidays.
How to choose a large house
Count beds, not just bedrooms. Count adults, children and babies: the stated capacity is a maximum the host cannot exceed, even for one night. Ask how many extra beds and cots are available.
A room for the big table. Meals together are the heart of the stay: check that a single table can seat everyone, and that the kitchen can keep up (oven, hobs, fridges).
Space for everyone. With fifteen people, you also need quiet: several sitting rooms, a garden, bedrooms spread over several floors or buildings.
Easy to reach. When guests come from different cities, a house near a big city or a station saves long journeys.
House rules. Before booking, tell the host the occasion and the exact number of people, including those coming only for a meal or an evening.
For which occasion?
A family reunion. Choose a house with a ground-floor bedroom for the grandparents, and a garden for the children.
A birthday or a party. A large hall and a house slightly apart let you celebrate without disturbing anyone. The houses in our Celebrations & events collection state how many guests they can host for a meal.
A weekend with friends. A pool in summer, a big living room in winter, and bedrooms of similar size so nobody feels short-changed.
Christmas and New Year. A fireplace, a big table and bedrooms for all: book in the autumn, and check the minimum stay, often longer over the holidays.
An away-day in the countryside. A meeting room, a good connection and single bedrooms: Clos Lavaux also hosts seminars.
Season by season
In summer, look for a pool and a large shaded garden. In winter, a fireplace, a heated indoor pool or a spa fill the grey days: that is the case at La Motte Féodale, and the fireplace brings everyone together at Cochefilet and Mas La Solarie.
Our large houses
Near Paris. Ferme Manoir de Cochefilet, in Essonne, sleeps 14 in a turreted manor house, with a sitting room and its stone fireplace. In the Eure, at Le Mesnil-Jourdain, La Motte Féodale (10 guests) offers a heated indoor pool, a spa and a 17th-century vaulted hall; in the same village, Le Clos du Veneur, a half-timbered house with a pool, sleeps 12.
For very big groups. In the Morvan, Hameau Les Gaties sleeps 22 in 8 bedrooms, around a barn hall and its long table. In Saône-et-Loire, Clos Lavaux, a 650 m² mansion, sleeps 20 in 10 bedrooms, with a reception hall under a mezzanine, a chef's kitchen and a stilt cabin by the pond.
Houses with character. In Cambo-les-Bains, Maison Luroa, a 480 m² Basque noble house, sleeps 15, with a heated pool and a grand drawing room. On the Loire at Cunault, Logis Escale, with its tufa-stone turrets, sleeps 15 around a heated semi-troglodyte pool. In the Cévennes, Mas La Solarie (10 guests) has an infinity pool overlooking its park.
In the Lot. Aubié sleeps 16 in a barn with exposed beams and an infinity pool facing the valley; Maison de la source, in Alvignac, sleeps 12, with a pool.
