A holiday home in Normandy with a large enclosed garden

A hectare, roughly two and a half acres, is enough room for two groups to go about their day without getting in each other's way. The grandparents stay on the terrace, the teenagers settle at the far end of the grounds, the little ones circle the swing set, and everyone has a patch of shade under the trees. With 11 people, this is often what a rental lacks most: somewhere to be alone for a while without leaving the house. The Master Bedroom, on the ground floor, looks straight out onto the grounds: it is the first thing its occupants see when they open the shutters, and the last before they close them.

The word "enclosed" matters as much as the size. The grounds are fenced all the way round and you come in through an electric gate. With young children, you are no longer keeping an eye on a street or a road, you are keeping an eye on a garden. Small pets under 10 kg are accepted on prior request, with a €50 cleaning supplement per stay: a small dog then gets a fenced field rather than a lead.

Let us be clear about what the garden does not have. There is no swimming pool, and you cannot see the sea from the grounds. There is shade, space and quiet, and Veulettes-sur-Mer beach 10 minutes away for swimming, lifeguarded every day in July and August from 11 am to 7 pm.

People often arrive with an outing planned for every day. Yet the grounds can fill a whole day on their own, and it looks something like this.

The terrace gives you two ways to cook. The fire pit barbecue, fitted with a plancha, suits fish, vegetables and slow cooking at the end of the day. The Weber gas barbecue takes over when everyone needs feeding quickly, or when you would rather not wait for the embers. With 11 people, both are often going at once, leaving the indoor kitchen free for the side dishes. The meal is then served at the outdoor table, facing the grounds, while the loungers wait for anyone after a nap. When the wind turns or a shower passes, everything moves in minutes to the large dining table, extended by the bar.

The garden has its rules, and they fit in two lines. Parties and events are not allowed, and noise outdoors stops at 10 pm out of respect for the neighbours. No smoking indoors: ashtrays wait for smokers outside. If you are planning a house rental in Normandy with friends, these rules are part of the deal from the start, and they rule out neither long dinners nor card games.

Once through the gate, 4 cars park inside the property. No hunting for a space in the evening, no unloading a boot at the roadside, and children who meet no traffic when they climb out of the car. An electric car can be charged from a domestic socket for a flat €20 per charge: it is not a charging point, so plan for a slow charge. CCTV covers the outside only, and there are no cameras inside the house. The garden stays a private space for those living there that week.

In summer, the grounds become the main room. During the 2026 heatwaves, our guests split their days between the beach and the garden, and spent their nights without air conditioning. The shade of the trees, the coast 10 minutes away and nights noticeably cooler than in Paris make up the case set out on our page about a cool summer holiday in Normandy.

When you look for a house for 11 near the beach, you often have to choose between being close to the water and having space around you. Here, that choice is already made: an enclosed hectare in a quiet village in the Durdent valley, and Veulettes-sur-Mer 6 km away. Petites Dalles is the same distance, and Lake Caniel is 10 minutes away too.

For families, these grounds change the way you travel: car-free days become possible, and evenings are spent outdoors while the children are still playing. Our page on a family-friendly holiday home in Normandy covers the rest of what awaits them behind the gate.

Summer weeks, when life happens mostly outdoors, get booked early, and the house is then let for 7 nights minimum. Outside high season, 2 nights are enough. Browse the photos of the grounds and terrace, then check your dates with the Idylliq concierge service.