It was back to Luane’s World for a summer visit for me – it’s nice to drop in at least twice a year to see what LuaneMeo has cooked up for her public region of Le Monde Perdu, although I admit it’s been a couple of years since my last summer visit!
For 2026, Luane, with the assistance of Gorba McMahon, presents visitors with an island wrapping a Mediterranean feel about it, the two major buildings sitting upon it hinting at places such as Tuscany and the South of France. The island sits with its back towards the residential regions of Luane’s World, its northern side marked by rocky walls sitting above a shingle and grass coastline.
These modest cliffs mark the raise spine of the island, a flat top comprising a pair of flat plateaux of grass and trees on which the houses are located, one to the east and the other to the west, the land sloping down from them to the south to join the golden sands of a beach. The latter forms two south-pointing headlands which give the island an overall C-shape, an inlet cutting into it to form an almost heart-shaped bay, the entrance to which is marked by an offshore lighthouse.
The Landing Point is located on the flagstone terrace of the house to the east side of the island and which in part forms the rental office for the residential aspects of the estate as well as a little café with seating on the terrace outside.
A small barn with fence meadow sits at the end of the elevated land sufficiently clear of the house so as not to crowd it, and a horse rezzer is available there for those who might not wish to walk around the island – the landscape does make for comfortable riding.
A path runs from the back of the house to a set of steps leading down to Luane’s usual bridge across the waters to the rest of the estate. This does contain public paths explorers are free to follow – but do please keep in mind the houses found along the paths are private residences 🙂 .
A second path runs westwards from the house, crossing the grounds to reach a fence guarding against any risk of falling into the gorge cutting but the two plateaux from north to south, connecting the lowlands on either side. A gently humped bridge spans the gorge, allowing the path to continue onwards to the west, where it skirts around the second house.
Sitting in its own wall garden, the latter commands a view out over the beaches and the bay and is charmingly furnished. Across the track from it, the rest of the plateau offers a grassy retreat with the ruins of a cottage and places to sit. A little summer house sits in the lee of the plateau on its north side, just past the point where the sands of the beaches give way to the shingle of the north coast.
These sands can be reached via steps descending the hill from a point just past the house with its walled garden. However, do not expect your passage past the house to go unnoticed – feline eyes keep a careful watch on all comings and goings! And keep an eye out for the rabbits ready to announce “You’ve got mail!” to whomever lives inside 🙂 .
The western arc of the beach provides the broadest expanse of sands, although this is somewhat broken up by a rising mound of gassy land and rock crowned with young trees and where a small pool house has been built on a shoulder of rock, and the (tide-formed?) cave beneath it turned into a cosy and no doubt cool hideaway.
That the sea has worked on the island can be seen from around the foot of the hills and the back of the beaches, where the sand had been compacted by decades of water and then cut into stratified blocks which become quite tall on the eastern arc of the bay.
The headland to the east also has a rise of grassy land sitting within the cure of the beach, and this is home to a little hut sitting with its back towards the bay so that its small deck offers a view out across more open waters.
The bay is obviously a popular place, with opportunities for sunbathing on the sands or splashing about on the water courtesy of floats and the like. A small wooden jetty offers and inflatable boat rezzer for a pootle on the water (mind any swimmers!), whilst a sign offers the same but using a kayak, and a handful of rowing boats scattered around the shallows of the island offer places to sit and relax as well.
The beach and boats are not the only places to sit outdoors, there are benches, seats, blankets, daybeds, gazebos, and swings all awaiting use to be found right across the island, each of them offering a view and /or a place to retreat.
I’ve been covering Le Monde Perdu and Luane’s work for a decade now, and have always appreciated the sense of life she brings to her region designs through her sculpting of the landscape, the flora she puts out across it and her use of animals and wildlife. They are all perfectly blended to present a setting entirely natural in scope and content, never feeling forced or laboured in achieving its goal to encourage people to feel at home, relax, explore and perhaps have a little fun.
In short, Le Monde Perdu Summer 2026 continues the region’s reputation as an absolute delight.
Slurl Details
- Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu (rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 