The Mountain House is a beautifully appointed six bedroom chalet with a large (950m2) garden and wonderful views of the Massif de Mont Blanc. The chalet is set in a quiet sunny location and is flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling south-facing windows. The Mountain House also has fast fibre Wi-Fi.
There are endless options nearby for walking, cycling, swimming, mountaineering, climbing etc, or relaxing, reading, eating and drinking. (For ski season information see the end of this description).
The Mountain House has a large sunny garden, a south-facing terrace with a 10-seater table, a Weber gas BBQ, a second large outdoor table in the garden, and several sun loungers.
It's less than 2km to a parc de loisir (Parc de Loisir du Pontet) with a swimming lake, a pédalo lake, parcour des arbes (like Go Ape), several immaculate tennis courts, archery, biathlon, a golf driving range and many other activities, The cable-cars by the parc de loisir operate in July and August and take mountain bikes for no extra charge.
There's a lovely restaurant 100m from the chalet and it's a quiet 10-15 minute walk to the village with its shops, restaurants, bars, mini-supermarkets and a lively market on Tuesdays.
The Mountain House is furnished it to a very high standard to provide a luxurious setting for a perfect alpine holiday. The large main room, with its double-height ceiling and giant deer antler* chandelier, has windows on three sides giving wonderful views, and a huge and very solid oak table (3m x 1m) that comfortably seats 12 people - many more at a push! The other half of this room is a lovely cosy area with a corner sofa and two armchairs, all arranged around the large curved-glass wood-burning stove.
There's a 49" wall-mounted 4K TV in the main room, and a Bluetooth enabled Onkyo amp connected to floor-standing KEF speakers;
The Mountain House has a separate TV room/ snug with another 49" wall-mounted 4K TV, a super-comfortable corner sofa, a giant beanbag & an armchair. This works particularly well as a place for the kids to retreat to after dinner, allowing the adults a quieter time around the large oak table or the wood burning stove in the main room.
The beds and mattresses are all super-comfortable, and the duvets and pillows are 100% goose down and feather. All bed linen is crisp percale cotton. Three of the bedrooms have either super king or king size beds; one room has bunk beds plus two additional singles; one has bunk beds plus one additional single; and the 6th bedroom has just one single bed. This 6th bedroom is a small room but it has a large window, plenty of shelves, a bedside table and lamp and a comfortable new bed and mattress. All the bedrooms have Cambridge Audio Bluetooth speakers.
There's a new kitchen with solid FSC oak worktops and Bosch appliances throughout including two full size ovens, a large gas hob, a dishwasher, and a large fridge-freezer. The kitchen is lovely and bright with floor-to-ceiling windows on one side and wide open views of the mountains. We keep the kitchen well-stocked with herbs and spices, cookings oils, coffee and tea etc so it's a great place for preparing and serving large meals in style. .
There is a large double garage that can comfortably take a car and still leave plenty of room for skiing and boarding equipment, and there's parking for two more cars outside. The Mountain House has a large capacity washing machine and a large capacity clothes drier, and a hot air-blown 24-boot boot drier.
Children are very welcome. The Mountain House has three cots and three high chairs.
This listing is for the main chalet which comprises two-thirds of a very large (320m2) building that also includes a self-contained two-bedroom apartment and a self-contained one-bedroom apartment. The building was designed by an architect as a family home and has always included these self-contained apartments. As such the spaces flow very nicely and when in the main chalet you are unaware of the apartments, which are separated by thick concrete walls. This listing also includes exclusive use of the chalet's garden and garage.
You enter the chalet on the middle floor, which includes a large main room with a double-height ceiling. Two of the six bedrooms (one with a super king bed and one with bunks plus two singles) are upstairs, and four are downstairs from this middle floor. This separation of sleeping spaces works really well for two families, offering each their separate space and privacy. In addition to the 6 bedrooms which provide beds for 14 people, there is a sofa-bed that folds out in to a double bed in the living room.
There is a large shower room and WC upstairs, and two bathrooms (one en-suite) plus a separate WC downstairs. On the middle floor (the living area) there is also a separate WC.
For the winter, Les Contamines' main ski lifts are only 800m away, and if you don't feel like walking to the lifts, the free shuttle bus stops 100m away. You can also drive as there are large car parks at the ski lifts.
Les Contamines-Montjoie is a charming unspoiled Haute Savoie village and a fantastic place for skiing and boarding. There's 120km of pistes catering for all abilities, and lots of accessible and fun off-piste between the pistes. Its snow record is the best in the Chamonix valley and the ski domain has stunning views of the Mont Blanc massive including of the summit of Mont Blanc itself. Yet compared to better known ski resorts, is it never crowded.