Escape to a Luxury Cabin in Val-des-Monts, Outaouais: Living the Terre et Neige Lifestyle

If anything about the cultural phenomena of “cabin porn”, “nature-gasms” or “escapology” appeals to you, then this luxury cabin escape in Val-des-Monts, Outaouais is the perfect place to plan your next getaway in Quebec. Bri Mitchell walks you through the entire guest experience at the cabins at Terre et Neige.

luxury_cabin_val_des_monts — The C-2 luxury cabin at Terre et Neige. Photo Credit: Bri Mitchell

There are so many reasons to plan a getaway to Outaouais and the province of Quebec at large. The region is home to the top notch Spa Nordik Nature spa in Chelsea, picturesque towns and wellness getaways, and pristine and scenic cycling routes, to name a few.

Terre et Neige luxury cabins offer city dwellers and nature lovers alike an opportunity to reconnect, relax and immerse yourself in nature. Their carefully planned accommodations provide all of the luxurious comforts for you to feel pampered during your stay, while situating you in the middle of the rugged and beautiful natural surroundings of the treed mountains in Val-des-Monts.

Terre Neige is more than just a luxury cabin escape, though. Its owners have put so much care and thought into the practices and experiences they want their guests to enjoy during their stay.

Their commitment to sourcing materials and products for each cabin from local businesses, serving gourmet food from their edible garden and local farmers, and ensuring that guests recognize that these cabins are very much the product of their surroundings brings farm-to-table and sustainable practices to life.

Let me take you on a journey to my favourite luxury cabin escape of the year, and one that will not soon be forgotten.

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How to Get to these Luxury Cabins in Val-des-Monts

A visit to Terre et Neige means you’ll need to drive, since it’s located in a more remote area surrounded by mountains and lakes.

Val-des-Monts is a short 40 minute drive from Ottawa, 1.5 hours from the United States border at Cornwall, and 2.5 hours from Montreal. This makes venturing to this municipality in the Outaouais region an excellent weekend getaway destination.

Driving to Val-des-Monts, you’ll be met with scenic views of surroundings mountains, countryside and lakes. There are a lot of winding roads, making you feel like you’re truly lost among the mountains. Cell service is minimal, making it the perfect setup for on a nature escape.

Arriving at Terre et Neige, you’ll be greeted by William and Julia, the couple who made their dream of creating a cabin escape in Canada a reality.

The Story Behind Terre et Neige Luxury Cabins

The creative team behind Terre et Neige is the friendly, welcoming and ingenuitive couple, William and Julia. Julia is a Canadian from the Gatineau area (home to the Mackenzie King Estate), who lived and worked as a chef in Europe for several years. William is from France, and while they were both competing in a bike polo (yes, polo on bicycles!) tournament in London, England in 2012, they met.

Julia and William decided to do long distance for a while. Julia was living in London, and William was living in Paris. After some time, the distance became too far and they decided to really give their relationship a true shot in the same city. Julia decided to move to Paris, and they haven’t looked back since.

Although William had never been to Canada before, he’d always had a fantasy of moving to Canada and fulfilling his dream of living in the Canadian wilderness. He even grew up playing ice hockey in France, which is almost as unusual as playing bike polo in a country that loves football (soccer) and tennis. When William met Julia and they eventually started a family, it was like the stars had aligned when they decided to relocate to Canada together.

Over the years leading up to the move, Julia and William fell in love with the books Cabin Porn, Escapology and Treehouses. When they moved to Canada, they found themselves in search of a place where they could live as locally and off the land as possible, and open up this experience for others to fall in love with, too.

They found their little slice of paradise on a rugged plot of land with its own lake in Val-des-Monts, and Terre et Neige was born.

What You Can Expect at Terre et Neige Luxury Cabins

Julia and William are very intentional when it comes to creating meaningful spaces and hosting their guests at Terre et Neige. Their attention to detail, commitment to supporting and eating local and dedication to the art of escapism is evident from the moment you arrive.

Escapism

When you arrive in Val des Monts at Terre et Neige, you will be whisked into the forest.

Julia and William live at the entrance to the property, and you can leave your car by their house. From there, you’ll take a short walk to your cabin escape. It’s so nice to leave the car behind when you get to a luxury cabin escape like this one, because it allows you to feel like you’ve come entirely off grid for this experience.

Each cabin has its own dedicated space, separate from the other with a very private feel. There is a picnic table, fire pit and ample wood to burn at each cabin.

Farm-To-Table, Seasonal, Earth First Dining

Even though Julia is a trained chef, that isn’t the only reason food is such an important piece of the puzzle at Terre et Neige.

William and Julia are both committed to the power and importance of eating locally sourced and seasonal menus. Every night’s stay at the property includes a homemade breakfast, made fresh daily by Julia and delivered to your cabin in the most beautifully arranged of picnic baskets. Lunch or dinner picnic baskets are also available for an added cost, if you’d like to arrange for one in advance of your stay—they require 48 hours notice, if you’d like one.

You can count on your meals including seasonal fruits and vegetables, like the local blueberries, strawberries, haskap berries, rhubarb, and fennel, among other seasonal ingredients that I enjoyed during my July stay. Many of the local ingredients are from farms in the immediate area, but all are from the province of Quebec and parts of Southeastern Ontario.

Julia’s background as a Parisienne chef means that fresh pastries like sourdough croissants, French Madeleines and homemade tarts can be expected. Locally sourced eggs, homemade granola and seasonal preserves are also staples in breakfast baskets here. During my stay, Julia even prepared Will’s dad’s family chocolate mousse recipe and homemade marshmallows for roasting in a dinner basket, which were perfect for sitting by the fire at night.

The expertise with which Julia designs each menu at Terre et Neige is an experience worth staying for in its own right.

Curated, Locally Sourced Comfort

They have thought of everything for guests to feel cozy, comfortable and connected on this cabin retreat.

Locally sourced products are in each cabin, like locally made soaps and bath products, and even the mattress and bedding is from a nearby business. At the time of my stay in the summer, they even had specially made bug spray in each cabin.

They’ve also brought Scandinavian spa culture into the forest at these luxury cabins. Each cabin has its own wood-fired hot tub, which is available all year round. During my particular stay in July it was hot outside, so I ended up using my tub as a cold plunge pool instead. It was absolutely glorious, and so serene to sit out in the evening among the twinkle lights and the stars.

Out of all of the personalized touches at this Val-des-Monts cabin, I think my favourite part was turning on the portable speaker they’d set up in the cabin, turning on the playlist they’d created for their guests, and flipping through Cabin Porn.

If you’re interested in finding a little respite from the day-to-day and manifesting a cabin retreat of your own at home, I’d definitely recommend picking up a copy.

Intentional Design

Each cabin is intentionally positioned for you to be immersed in nature, with different viewpoints outside of each window.

They’ve planned out the right place for every corner to face, right down to the angles of the beds and where you’re facing when you sit in each corner of every cabin. You’ll find yourself wanting to sit in every different part of the cabin to make sure you’re enjoying all of the carefully planned vantage points during your stay.

Convenience

Every cabin has a fully equipped kitchen with a fridge, electric range, pots and pans, and beautifully curated dishes and cutlery. They also have basic cooking essentials like olive oil, salt and pepper.

The cabins are connected to high-speed wifi, too, making it perfect for streaming music, staying in touch or maybe even doing a little remote work if it’s absolutely necessary during your stay.

Bilingualism

Although you can find many truly bilingual accommodations and businesses in Outaouais given its proximity to the Ontario border, Julia and William are completely bilingual themselves.

Whether you speak English or French, you will find yourself completely comfortable in any communication about your cabin escape.

Choosing Your Luxury Cabin at Terre et Neige

There are now not only one, not two, but three luxury cabins to choose from when you stay at Terre et Neige.

Luxury Cabin 1: The A-Frame

This was William and Julia’s first luxury cabin project when they were able to make all of their escapology dreams a reality. After acquiring the property in 2020, they opened the A-Frame cabin up to the public in the summer of 2022.

The A-Frame is an Instagram-lover’s haven. It’s positioned higher up on stilts, making it feel like a treehouse. Its iconic A-Frame is the focal point of the interior of the cabin.

The living room has a sofa bed couch that sleeps two, a wood burning stove and several books and blankets for cosying up. The kitchen is fully stocked, with a large window looking out to the forest. The bedroom is the main showstopper, with skylights on either side of the A-Frame, pouring bright light into the space during the day and allowing stargazing at night. There’s also a large window at the back of the cabin, opening up to more forest.

In addition to the personal wood-fired hot tub and fire area, the A-Frame has a front porch at the top of its steps, perfect for enjoying a morning coffee overlooking the tree canopy.

Luxury Cabin 2: C-2

Referred to as the “C-2” cabin at Terre et Neige, this cabin has a completely different design from the A-Frame. Whereas the A-Frame is all one level inside, the C-2 is multilevel, with a large and open living space, and a raised loft sleeping area.

The focal point of C-2 is the large picture window by the dining table that looks out to the vast forested valley and mountain view it sits beside. It is an inspiring space with more of a Scandinavian feel to write, paint or play guitar in while looking out to the blue jays, cardinals and other birds and wildlife you’ll find flying by the valley.

Like the A-Frame, it also has a living space with a pullout couch for two more guests, and it has a protected porch area looking out to the surrounding valley.

Luxury Cabin 3: c-3

This is the newest cabin at Terre et Neige and wasn’t quite open at the time of my visit, but is now welcoming guests. It is designed in much the same way as C-2, but it’s located on the private lake on the property, which is a 1.5km walk from C-2, the A-Frame and the parking area on site.

Unlike the first two cabins, it’s completely off the grid, offering you the perfect opportunity to disconnect during your stay in Val-des-Monts.

Winter in Val-des-Monts

Since I visited in summer, there was no “neige” (snow) to be had.

Terre et Neige is in Quebec, so much of the year is met with the cold and snow in this climate. This makes these cabins the perfect place for cosying up by the fire, setting out on cross country skiis or snow shoes around the area, and curling up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa.

I was told that in the last winter season, Will and Julia even created a small skating rink and common area over by the main house for guests to enjoy.

I can picture embracing winter so perfectly at Terre et Neige. I hope to be able to come back and visit in the wintertime some day soon, but in the meantime, here are a few pictures of the cabins in the wintertime. If you plan to visit Val-des-Monts in the wintertime, then it will no doubt be an absolutely magical experience.

A Lasting Memory of These Val-des-Monts Luxury Cabins

When you’ve been lucky enough to travel to some beautiful and carefully planned corners of the world, places like Terre et Neige stand out because of the thought and care that goes into curating an experience like this.

We aren’t meant to be cooped up inside, devoid of natural habitats and wild animals. And with so much of this bounteous nature as we are lucky to have in Canada, it’s important to remember that no matter the season, finding opportunities to immerse ourselves in nature is something to be cherished.

If you have the opportunity to escape for a weekend, then finding yourself at these luxury cabins in the south of Quebec is the best excuse for a getaway.

I want to humbly thank Outaouais Tourism for hosting me as media. All opinions are completely my own. If you appreciated this article, you’ll love our newsletter, as well as our Facebook group! Feel free to join, all are welcome.