A house with a view...

Dan & I didn’t fully realize when we bought our property that La Placette Haute is a sylviculture, a forestry estate. Indeed, we were disappointed to be hemmed in by tall trees, engulfed by rows of wizened pines that we were told were nothing valuable. 


'If you had oaks, perfect for firewood, or walnuts… but pines! Nobody wants them - especially after that bad storm in the Landes region toppled whole forests causing a surplus of pinewood.'

Imagine our surprise a few weeks ago, then, when we had unexpected visits from two different lumber companies both wanting our pines. Three years after the Landes storm, it seems, prices are coming back.


So we were only too eager to sign a contract to thin our woods and make a little money from our property. In the process, we were encouraged to join a non-profit organization that certifies a high standard for our sylviculture and is the modus operandi of eco-friendly cultivation.

As a result, last Monday a young fellow came with a huge machine we dubbed 'le monstre' that in a matter of seconds grabbed whole trees, cut them at their base, stripped their branches, and chopped them into neat logs. The selective process leaves sturdier trees with space and freedom to grow larger - money in the bank, so to speak.


In half a morning, as if by miracle, a vista at the southern end of the garden opened onto formerly unseen woods and pastures and to the distant horizon beyond. A house, now, with a view...