Domaine de La Fromigère can host residential seminars, team retreats, weddings and family gatherings for up to 150 guests in its largest room, with 80 beds on site. The estate is a renovated 18th-century farm of nearly 10 hectares in Sainte-Gemme, Charente-Maritime, within reach of Rochefort, La Rochelle and the beaches around Royan. It combines about ten self-catering cottages with two reception rooms and several smaller meeting rooms.
Seminars and company events
The estate sells both residential seminars and shorter meetings. It is organized in two wings, so a group can book the part that matches its size. The North Wing sleeps 20 to 28 people and comes with the Platane meeting room of 45 square meters. The South Wing sleeps 25 to 55 people, depending on the cottages booked, and gives access to the Chai room and the Hangar. The estate quotes 35 to 90 participants for a seminar in the South Wing.
Meeting rooms come with coffee and hot drinks, still and sparkling water, a touch tablet, a video projector, a sound system with four microphones, notepads, pens and a flip chart. The estate is connected to fiber broadband. Several cottages also have an annex room of 40 to 45 square meters that can serve for break-out sessions: Pin, Figuier, Frémigère and Platane.
A list of local partners covers team-building activities, culinary and wine workshops, electric bike rental, a massage service and private drivers.
Weddings and receptions
Couples can hire the whole estate for a wedding and lodge their guests in the cottages. The wedding room has exposed beams, an old wooden floor and bohemian furniture. The team helps with the planning and coordinates with a list of local suppliers. Tableware, furniture and an equipped kitchen are part of the facilities. The estate also hosts christenings, birthdays, family reunions and workshops.
Rooms and capacities
Hangar: covered space of more than 120 square meters for 100 to 150 guests, with a solid wood floor of 140 square meters, west-facing windows and glass doors, a south-facing terrace and a lawn of 2,000 square meters. An extra 140-square-meter covered area allows outdoor meals to move under cover if it rains. Parking for 50 cars lies next to it.
Chai: former wine store of 70 square meters with stone walls, exposed beams and a concrete floor, for 50 to 70 guests. Tables and chairs are provided, with a mobile 4G Wi-Fi box, a Bluetooth speaker and a three-phase power outlet.
Platane: meeting room of 45 square meters in the North Wing.
Accommodation
The estate counts more than 36 bedrooms and 80 beds across ten cottages and a studio. Cottage sizes range from Olivier, which sleeps 6, to Frémigère, a 250-square-meter house with six bedrooms for 14 to 15 people. Each cottage is fully equipped and has its own parking. Bed linen and towels are rented on request. An outdoor pool of 10 by 5 meters sits in the central courtyard. The estate states that it is not fully accessible to guests with reduced mobility.
Catering
The reception rooms are let on a self-managed basis, so organizers choose their own caterer. The partner list includes a local caterer, a vegan caterer, a vegetarian kitchen, a mobile crêpe stand and an oyster producer.
History and setting
La Fromigère is recorded in 1727 as a small manor owned by Pierre-Hector-Aymar de La Fromigère. It later became a farm, known as La Frémigère. A branch of the Dumas family bought it in 2010, restored it with local craftsmen and opened the first cottages in 2018. The reception rooms followed in 2023.
Getting there
Rochefort train station is 20 minutes away by car and La Rochelle station 45 minutes. La Rochelle-Île de Ré airport is 50 minutes away.
