Itzala

A pattern-book house, turned family home.

Localisation

Pyla-sur-Mer

YEAR

2025

SURFACE

250 m²

MISSION

Complete renovation and gardens

Photography

Léa Lejeune

APPROACH

RESTORE

Itzala is a 1930s neo-Basque house, a “Gaume house”, named after the builder who put up dozens of them around the Bay of Arcachon. It never set out to be a grand manor.

The family that bought it over twenty years ago always used it as a holiday home. The children grew up, the gatherings grew larger, ways of living changed. The house had aged gently.

The aim was not to change its nature, but to restore what it had and add what it lacked. The structure stayed intact; the rooms swapped roles. The former entrance, bright but seldom used, became the kitchen, at the heart of the house. The new entrance hall took the place of the old pantry, which let the dining room grow.

What was taken out was reused elsewhere: parquet, doors, cast-iron radiators. The original plaster cornices were recreated.

The palette draws on New England coastal houses and the residences of the 1930s and 40s. Cherry, walnut, oak and pine, slatted wooden blinds, white tiles with black pencil liners: these period touches sit alongside contemporary details. Everything was drawn, down to the radiator covers and the cabinet pulls.

Outside, the façades were restored. The summer kitchen, outdoor lounge, sun deck and pool copings were built in the same sober, durable spirit, in terrazzo and reclaimed brick.

Nothing gives away the scale of the renovation: you would think it had always been this way.