Story
World
A house facing the ocean
Some houses were built to be lived in. Others seem to have been placed there simply to watch the world go by.
Maison Atalaye is one of those rare houses built for both.
For a long time, it has watched the ocean from the Atalaye plateau, the promontory where people once came to keep an eye on the horizon.
They waited for a whale, a ship, a storm… or simply for that strange thing that sometimes happens when you stare at the sea for long enough.
The people are long gone.
The ocean remained.
And houses that spend their lives facing the horizon often develop a curious habit: they keep watching.
The House
Long before becoming an intimate hotel, the house was already watching the seasons, the storms and the endless summers come and go.
The years passed, and so did the names. Owners came and went, leaving behind fragments of life, everyday gestures and a few memories clinging to the walls.
Then came the Roaring Twenties, when Biarritz became a resort town where elegance, parties and travellers from all over the world crossed paths. The house watched that era as it watched everything else: quietly.
Later, silence settled in.
For years, the doors remained closed. The light gradually disappeared behind the windows, but the house never looked away.
Some stories do not end. They simply wait to be awakened.
And then, one day, someone opened the door.
Not to radically transform the place, but to carefully bring it back to life, almost gently.
The work began slowly. The idea was not to invent a story, but to rediscover the one that was already there, hidden within the spaces, the materials and the silences.
Little by little, the house began to wake.
Colours returned. Lines found their place again. The furniture subtly draws inspiration from the Neo-Basque spirit and the work of Victor Courtray, in an approach where nothing is superfluous and every form seems designed to last.
Architects, designers, craftspeople and artists all took part in this revival.
And then, at some point, drawings began to appear.
Not as decoration, but as fragments of stories deliberately left unfinished.
What you may see… or not
From the moment you enter, the house does not reveal everything. It offers glimpses of details, shapes and scenes that seem to belong to another time.
Certain elements emerge from the walls, evoking the sea, the land and gestures from the past, without ever becoming entirely rooted in reality.
You have to take the time to look.
Some details go unnoticed. Others catch your eye for no obvious reason. It almost becomes a way of inhabiting the place.
The salon once again welcomes conversations, quiet reading and gazes turned towards the outside world.
Upstairs, the staircase remains almost untouched. It holds the memory of footsteps, hands resting on the banister and visitors who came to contemplate the ocean.
Today, it is home to a sculpture.
A presence both strange and familiar.
Something slightly unreal, yet perfectly at home.
In this house, not everything asks to be explained. Some things are simply there, waiting for those who take the time to notice them.
A world to discover throughout the Maison
Some houses tell their stories out loud. Others prefer to let them be discovered around a corner, in a drawing, behind a sculpture, or between the pages of a book that may not even exist.
At Maison Atalaye, decoration doesn’t simply aim to dress the walls. It invites you to look differently.
The world imagined by Nicolas Barrome-Forgues draws naturally from the Basque coast: fishing ports, whalers, sea creatures, old tales, and the singular relationship Biarritz has held with the ocean for centuries.
But not everything can be explained.
Throughout the Maison, a few more unexpected details also appear. A strange engraving, a silent sculpture, a character from elsewhere, or an invented book that seems to have always existed.
The inspiration draws as much from maritime tales as from the imagination of Jules Verne, the engravings of Gustave Doré, or the worlds of Lewis Carroll. Discreet references that ask not to be recognized, only to be felt.
Every room, every corridor, every space becomes an invitation to slow down, observe, and let the imagination do the rest. After all, the most beautiful stories are often the ones we invent ourselves.
It’s up to you to discover them.
Crédits
Building Architecture:
Interior Architecture:
Graphic Design:
Artistic Direction:
Drawings & Engravings:
Sculptures:
Barrière Ivandekics Architectes
Anne Peyroux Atelier
Mathieu Julien
El Studioo & Nicolas Barrome-Forgues
Nicolas Barrome-Forgues
Emergency Toys & Nicolas Barrome-Forgues
Building Architecture:
Barrière Ivandekics Architectes
Interior Architecture:
Anne Peyroux Atelier
Graphic Design:
Mathieu Julien
Artistic Direction:
El Studioo & Nicolas Barrome-Forgues
Drawings & Engravings:
Nicolas Barrome-Forgues
Sculptures:
Emergency Toys & Nicolas Barrome-Forgues