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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of Ilbarritz was built between 1895 and 1897 by the architect Gustave Huguenin for Baron Albert de l'Espée, heir to the foundries of Wendel. The latter, marked by juvenile bronchitis, was looking for a climate conducive to his health, while installing there the largest private organ ever designed by Cavaillé-Coll. The estate, ultra-modern for the time (electricity, air conditioning, telephone), included a park with factories (Chinese pasture, kennels, kitchens) connected by covered paths. The organ, disassembled in 1903, was replaced in 1906 by a Mutin model, now in Spain.

Sold in 1911 to P.-B. Gheusi, the castle became a hospital during the First World War, and was fragmented in 1923. A casino project (La Roseraie) failed at its inauguration, and the 1929 crisis buried a luxurious city planned by Biarritz. It was occupied by the Germans in 1940 and then converted into a farm annex, and was partially restored in 1958. The Massiaux, owners from 1959, converted it into a Relais & Châteaux hotel, adding a panoramic rotunda and a chapel where Lefebvre celebrated a mass in 1980.

Ranked Historic Monument in 1990 (roof, facades, organ room, staircase), the castle changed hands several times. In 2014, Bruno Ledoux, a liberation shareholder, purchased a hotel project with spa and contemporary works, designed with Ora-Ito. Despite doubts about its feasibility, the site remains a unique architectural testimony, combining 19th century technical modernity and stylistic eclecticism.

The castle, built on the hill of Handia, dominates the ocean and is distinguished by its indestructible structure: marbles, noble wood, and solid roof thanks to cast iron pillars. The Baron demanded a frame capable of protecting the Cavaillé-Coll organ, symbol of his ambition. Today, only one old kitchen building remains, occupied by the Blue Cargo nightclub.

The successive degradations (abandonment, looting, transformations) contrast with its original fascist. The park, once decorated with picturesque factories, has almost completely disappeared. Contemporary projects struggle to reconcile heritage preservation with tourist ambitions, illustrating the challenges of rehabilitating classified private monuments.

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