Le Grand Merci Beach House, Cape San Blas, Florida

See all properties

Save

Entire home

Le Grand Merci - Living / Dining Area #1

Le Grand Merci - Front Upstairs Bedroom #3

Le Grand Merci - Master Suite Private Screened-In Porch

Overview
Amenities
Policies
Location
Host

4 bedrooms4+ bathroomsSleeps 9134 sq m

Popular amenities

Air conditioning

Washer

Dryer

Outdoor space

Kitchen

Barbecue grill

Explore the area

Port St Joe, FL

T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park1 min walk
Beach10 min walk
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park10 min drive
Panama City, FL (ECP-Northwest Florida Beaches Intl.)101 min drive

Rooms & beds

4 bedrooms (sleeps 9)

Bedroom 1

1 Single Bed, 2 King Beds and 2 Queen Beds

4 bathrooms, 4 half bathrooms

Bathroom 1

Bathroom 2

Bathroom 3

Bathroom 4

Bathroom 5

Bathroom 6

Bathroom 7

Bathroom 8

Spaces

Porch or lanai

Kitchen

Balcony

Separate dining area

Garden

About this property

Enjoy unparalleled peace and quiet within the sound of breaking waves in our professionally decorated coastal cottage. Le Grand Merci is located in Cape San Blas, Florida on the highly prized northern end of the St. Joseph Peninsula with easy, neighborhood-only access to both beach and bay. Our beach was twice rated #1 in America!
Le Grand Merci sleeps up to nine people in three bedrooms (2 with king-sized beds and 1 with queen-sized bed), plus one queen-sized living-room sleeper sofa), and one “beneath the bed” twin mattress that can be placed on the floor. It features three full indoor bathrooms and one full ground level "beach-friendly" bathroom. (Click here for full details.)
Le Grand Merci is located on the St. Joseph Peninsula less than one mile from the entrance to the renowned T.H. Stone Memorial State Park and Wilderness Area. The southern area of the park has re-opened following Hurricane Michael and features pristine beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, a bayside beautiful, "toddler-friendly" beach and snorkeling area with limited wave action adjacent to a small marina and boat launch.
While some area beaches have experienced significant erosion, our beaches on the northern end of the St. Joseph Peninsula are in great shape! Diagonal across the street from Le Grand Merci is Rish Park with its Olympic-sized swimming that is open to the public for a very small daily fee.

Property manager

Mark and Teresa

Amenities

Kitchen

Washer

Dryer

Air conditioning

Outdoor space

Barbecue grill

The end of another spectacular day in Gulf County!

Washer

Dryer

Air conditioning

Water view

House Rules

Check in after 6:00 PM

Minimum age to rent: 25

Check out before 9:00 AM

Children

Children allowed: ages 0–17

Events

No events allowed

Pets

No pets allowed

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

Damage and incidentals

You will be responsible for any damage to the rental property caused by you or your party during your stay.

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy

Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges

Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed

On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited

Host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector with you on the trip

Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property

Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher

About the area

Port St. Joe

This vacation home is located in Cape Breezes, a neighborhood in Port St. Joe. St Joseph Bay Golf Club and Saint Joe Marina are worth checking out if an activity is on the agenda, while those wishing to experience the area's natural beauty can explore Port St. Joe Beach and William J. "Billy Joe" Rish Recreation Park.

Port St Joe, FL

What's nearby

T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park - 1 min walk
Beach - 10 min walk
Cape San Blas Lighthouse - 7 min drive
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park - 10 min drive
Port St. Joe Beach - 11 min drive

Restaurants

Scallop Republic - 9 min drive
Cone Heads - 19 min walk
Cape San Blas Coffee Shop - 2 min drive
Skully's Low Country Boil - 2 min drive
Weber's Little Donut Shop - 2 min drive

Frequently asked questions

Is Le Grand Merci Beach House, Cape San Blas, Florida pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

9.6

Exceptional

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.

Learn more

9.0/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Check-in

9.2/10

Communication

8.6/10

Location

8.4/10

Listing accuracy

4/10 Poor

Joshua C.

6 July 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication

Disliked: Location, listing accuracy

No frills and kind of a mess of a stay.

The owner of the house was very easy to reach and very responsive for the record however we did have some issues. The parking area for the private beach to the north on the gulf side has been sold and is now considered private property and you will be towed if you park there. Obviously for a family of 4 that is a huge blow to beach days having to carry a lot of stuff so far. The washer has some mold, we were doing a load of whites, and the shirt I had on at the wedding as well as a dress of Nikki's was stained with mold. I am not sure what is up with the AC or if it's just not big enough for the downstairs but it has yet to cool down to even close to what we set it at 72 (it doesn't seem to be able to get below 76) which makes sleeping in the master pretty rough with this heat. The door to the washer and dryer comes off the hinges quite frequently. The ants and the cockroaches we're sprayed for and bait was put out. There is consistent construction going on every morning at 08:00 next door (as you are looking at the house from the road it's the new house to the left). The TV in the living room has a purple spot covering 1/3 of it on the right side, after looking into it a bit it's a sign the TV is going out. In closing this is a no frills non beach front rental for a pretty high price. It was our first time doing a VRBO and I will be much more picky next time.

Stayed 8 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Yohan A.

13 March 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Winter Getaway

My Wife and I enjoy finding and experiencing quiet locations, off the beaten path, that we can “home base” out of to explore the surrounding area, that reveals local discoveries worthy of remembering. Our stay here was all of what we look for and more. We found our entire experience rememberable. If you are inclined to do your own thing, and not follow the crowd, this may just be the place for you, it was for us.

Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2022

10/10 Excellent

Cynthia P., Nashville TN

15 August 2021

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

So relaxing, so fun

This house is lovely and we so enjoyed our stay. The location was perfect - views of both the bay and the gulf, one mile south of the TH Stone park, a short two mile bike ride to the Trading Post and the St. Joe Shrimp Co., and a super easy walk/ride to the beach. Even though the house is right on the main road, the windows are so well sealed that there was zero road noise. The kitchen is well stocked with good quality cookware, dishes, and utensils. The bathrooms were so fresh and nice with beautiful counters, new showers, etc. The beds are the most comfortable I've ever slept in. (I actually took a picture of the tag on the mattress and am now shopping for a similar one for my home.) The week of Aug. 7-14, 2021, we had loads of room on the beach with no crowding. The marine life was so fascinating to see in both the gulf and the bay. Sailing was good.

Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Sherry C.

2 August 2021

Disliked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Perfect vacation

House was lovely, clean and well supplied. Cape San Blas is a great beach....We did not go to the beach close to the house as we had a 2nd house for our family and it had closer beach access , so no experience with getting to beach . We enjoyed the chairs etc. , outdoor shower, and all the games and books. Thanks for hosting us , Mark and Teresesa

Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Natasha S.

22 February 2021

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Everything I needed to feel like home

The amenities and house was very accommodating for a relaxing vacation. This is the perfect place to go when you want a low key, natural beach vacation. The owners kept in touch to help with any issues that we may have had. The house was clean and the decor was HGTV beach house fabulous.

Stayed 5 nights in Feb 2021

About the host

Hosted by Mark and Teresa

Mark grew up in Illinois and Peru. Teresa grew up in Kentucky and have been married for more than thirty years. Before relocating to Texas, they lived in Paris where Mark served on the pastoral team in a French-language congregation and trained leaders across the Continent and beyond. Today, Teresa teaches Kindergarten in a DFW area school following a classical curriculum while Mark serves the church they founded in the heart of downtown Dallas and teaches in a ministry training college. Their greatest earthly joy is their two children who were born to them after thirteen years of infertility. They are very grateful to have been able to acquire and renovate Le Grand Merci and they enjoy sharing it with others.

Why they chose this property

We discovered Cape San Blas during a very stressful time in our lives and quickly fell in love with this area that is so different from everything we have seen elsewhere in Florida. Because the residents of Gulf County voted to prohibit the building of high-rise buildings, Cape San Blas and the St. Joseph Peninsula promise to retain the low-key, restful, down-to-earth, and family-friendly atmosphere that attracted us in the first place.

We were drawn to Le Grand Merci because of its unique combination of privacy and accessibility to both beach and bay and also because we saw the potential to turn its rustic charm into a true, French coastal cottage inspired by the many years we lived in France as missionaries. Le Grand Merci literally means, "A big thank-you." We chose this name as an expression of our gratitude to God for entrusting this property to our care. One of our greatest joys is being able to make Le Grand Merci available to some very special people working sacrificially for missionary and other non-profit organizations in remote and urban areas around the world who could never afford a vacation in this beautiful place. The proceeds from your rental help make that possible. Thank you!!!

What makes this property unique

Le Grand Merci is unique among properties on the northern part of the peninsula because it is surrounded by original, Florida short pine trees whose branches grow close enough to the ground to provide a sense of privacy unknown to most all of the other homes nearby. Once the renovations were finished, we were amazed by how its many windows flood the interior with natural light. Looking out from inside, the beautiful trees give the impression of total privacy in a secluded forest campsite while being so close to the beach that the sound of the surf can clearly be heard from our outdoor deck. In fact, our own family spent a month here before any window treatments were installed without any sense of being visible to passersby!

When we began searching for a property to purchase here on the Cape, the national HGTV network got involved in our project in a very unexpected way and featured our renovation in an hour-long episode of their Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovation program entitled, "Cape San Blas Bliss." They were great to work with and it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our family. If you would like to view the HGTV episode of Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovation entitled "Cape San Blas Bliss" that chronicles the story of Le Grand Merci, you can find in streaming video online via iTunes, Amazon Prime, Youtube, or HGTV.

One last thing- no matter how many times we walk through our neighborhood to the beach, we never grow tired of seeing the dolphins or of watching the sunsets!

Tell us how we can improve our siteShare feedback