Ma Maison, a Jeju Stone House Stay, Made More Sophisticated with the Owner’s Sentiment
There are a lot of private rental houses being built throughout Jeju Island. What distinguishes Ma Maison from other stone house themed stays is its consistent style and sensitive touch felt everywhere from its sign, roof, exterior, placement of the buildings and interior design to even the owner’s writing on the blog.
While its proximity to Pyeongdae Beach adds charm to the house, it adopted a unique building placement where two houses make the shape of “ㄱ,” instead of regular placement that generally comes in the straight line of two houses or “ㄷ” shape of three houses. Guests can rent one house or both houses together, which is going to feel like a big separate house. This management system is also different from other places.
What’s surprising here is that it is an old couple in their 60s who created this place with such a sophisticated sense. Aspiring for calmer yet simpler life, they moved to Jeju from the mainland for the second chapter of their life. I’d like to introduce the owner of Ma Maison.
Romantic Old Couple who came to Jeju with Childhood Dreams Away from the Mainland
She considered all the available options from Yangpyeong-gun County in Gyeonggi-do Province all the way to Gyeongsang-do Province, but fixing up a Jeju stone house was never on her mind. When her children suggested the idea, she made a trip to Jeju and fell in love with Jungsangan and Olle Trail. At that point, making a decision on her new life in Jeju wasn’t so difficult. Since she has always aspired to live in a country house, she looked for a stone house when she moved here, and after three years of preparation, she finally realized her dream.
Pyeongdae-ri was chosen for fascination of stone house in front of Pyeongdae beach
“To me, the house was more important than the neighborhood. I looked for the place for 3 years and finally found this current place. Although the house been abandoned for ten years, the quality of stones was still in great shape. Above all, the ocean view from the house with Jeju’s blue night and Pyeongdae Beach was the best part.” It seems like fate exists for people and even lands. Ma Maison’s embracing surroundings where Pyeongdae Beach feels like a backyard of the house was similar to the owner’s heart.
Pyeongdae-ri and Handong-ri area has a lot of stone houses with three units. In the past, it was an ordinary Jeju village only with Hampd Dolzip Guesthouse. By the time Ma Maison’s construction was completed, however, the neighborhood saw a lot of renewed stone house cafés and restaurants popping up as more young generations moved down to Jeju Island, which has been brightening up the neighborhood.
The owner couple initially planned to rent out one house and live in the other one but it didn’t go the way they wanted even until now. The story goes, when they rented both houses to respond to high demands, people happened to like the house they initially planned to live in. So they had to find another place for themselves. This shows how popular Ma Maison has become among tourists in Jeju though it’s only been a year since its opening. Nonetheless, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows in their process to fix the house. Let’s find out what happened behind the scene.
Hong pointed out that when fixing houses near the sea, there are a few things to be taken into account. It’s considered that houses near the sea in Jeju are not entirely livable. Jeju’s climate with a lot of wind and typhoons makes it dangerous to live in the houses adjacent to the sea. Ma Maison is luckily situated slightly above the sea, but the wind was still a factor. Therefore, waterproofing the house with sealed windows and floor to prevent the salt from creeping in was critical. For this reason, Ma Maison’s floor used tiles instead of wood. On the other hand, it took trial and error to finalize the windows, which involved having to change them while the business was already running.
Although she didn’t make a blueprint of Ma Maison herself, Hong managed the overall process that encompasses space structure and furniture. When the house was under construction, she traveled to Seoul for interior design and home styling. Particularly, her vintage furniture and decoration items that she has collected over a long time are fused with Ma Maison’s space, adding depth to the space.
Separately or Together, Securing Privacy while Maximizing the Efficiency of the Movement Flow
Blue-dong was planned for guests. Hong started staying at many different guesthouses and rental houses in Jeju to get inspiration and found out that most of guests are in their early- or mid-30s. Hong thought it’s important to create a space that caters to her target audience’s taste. Since Scandinavian style furniture was popular among newlyweds and people in their 30s, she chose the furniture and other items in the house accordingly.
Taking advantage of its proximity to the sea, the window is long stretched to the direction of the sea. Since Blue-dong is a small place, they created a studio style room. At the same time, the additional sliding door separates the sections and enhances the privacy of the bedroom without negatively influencing the openness of the space. Hoping her guests enjoy intimate conversation, whether they are couples or families, she skipped putting a TV, but instead prepared plenty of resources for reading and listening to music.
Green-dong was reserved for the owner couple when they first planned it, though, as mentioned above, it’s currently used for guests. The structure of the old stone house that was still kept intact is impressive. Green-dong’s floor plan is interesting. It consists of the couple’s main room, guest room, kitchen, living room and bathroom. The island type kitchen faces the living room so the couple can see each other and talk while cooking.
“People live for 90 years these days. That means we have 30 more years left ahead of us so why not choose to live young?” The birch tree material and white color made Green-dong look bright and warm. The country farm house seemed reborn with a great sense of style as well as convenient space organization and efficient movement flow.
Blue-dong and Green-dong’s maximum capacity is 4, which comes down to 8 in total that allows a big family to stay. She said there are a lot of young married couples who stay in Green-dong with their children while their old parents use Green-dong. Since the location of the window was decided with privacy in mind, these two houses create a stable relationship with each other. Stone wall that reveals what Jeju is really like creates an appropriate boundary and a deck leads the guests to the sea and the garden to let them rest and heal.
Interview with owner of Ma Maison Jeju
Ma Maison Blog was created for Ma Maison. Initially, my blog had less than 10 visitors a day but started to see more as I posted pictures of the construction and eventually, at the end of the construction, people wanted to make a reservation when the construction was not even completed. I was in awe. I still use my Naver blog to take reservations and communicate with blog friends. I feel really grateful for Naver.
Above all, though, I would say that the highlight of Jeju trip is Pyeongdae-ri and its vicinity where Ma Maison is located. Since a lot of traditional stone houses are preserved here, it will be a good place to witness the original Jeju country village. While taking a leisurely stroll around the village, get the real taste of Jeju and discover hidden gems like local restaurants and cafés. Some famous places are All Is Well, a pasta restaurant run by three beautiful young ladies, Pungrim Dabang, a coffee shop featuring excellent hand drip and Dutch coffee and the French restaurant East End that opened in Jongdal-ri on the east end of Jeju.
STAY’s recommended
Local Destination
Bijarim Forest
A place filled with bright green forest’s energy
Café Hado
House concert, Gujwa-eup’s No.1 cultural event
STAY’s recommended
Local Restaurant
All Is Well in Pyeongdae-ri
Delicious pasta presented by three ladies
East End in Jongdal-ri
French restaurant on the east end of Jeju
STAY’s recommended
Local Cafe
Pungrim Dabang
A coffee shop featuring excellent hand drip and Dutch coffee
Memory of Jeju’s Blue Night with Pyeongdae-ri’s Blue Ocean
We stayed in Blue-dong; it was an attractive place with a large window holding the view of Pyeongdae Beach. I think Blue-dong is the ideal room for couples. The large window embracing the blue ocean of Pyeongdae-ri leads to the kitchen where people can cook for their beloved ones. I envision a romantic day people cook and enjoy coffee and music while looking at the sea. I was actually able to see some stories on the visitor’s book that appreciate the time here where people could forget about all the troubles of where they are from. Though we were a group of three men, we felt what they meant while spending a great time with a bottle of wine.
ORIGINALITY
Private Rental House Available Separately or Together
Jeju Ma Maison is a stone house that offers Jeju’s sentiment. Most importantly, the location of Ma Maison is quite special. The beach in Pyeongdae-ri and Jeju’s stone houses that are cluttered like little dots in the village make a perfect harmony. Among other private rental houses renovated from the stone houses, Jeju Ma Maison offers a different experience in terms of its location close to the beach, as well as unusual “ㄱ” shape building placement and two separate houses that can be rented together or separately. Ma Maison is full of youthful touches; the fact that an old couple who desires to live young planned and runs the business themselves is extraordinary and even respectful.
DESIGN
Owner’s Sense of Style Consistently Applied throughout the Stone House
Jeju Ma Maison is the best example of total design among other private rental houses that renovated Jeju stone houses. While the skillful touch on the stone house is impressive, I liked that Blue-dong and Green-dong adequately match its theme connecting to the blue sea and the green yard. Restricting the inconvenient travel between two buildings that can be rented either separately or together by considering the movement flow was also remarkable. Hong’s sense of art and style is so sophisticated that her house was introduced in Happy Design House. She personally decorated Ma Maison under the consistent theme applied to furniture, lamp, fabric and other small items, which creates the defining atmosphere of the house. It’s her excellent taste in home styling that makes me excited to see her future house that she is planning to get sometime soon.
Hospitality
Taking a Peek at New Lifestyle that Baby Boom Generation Dreams Of
“I wanted to create a place where people like my daughter can stay comfortably.” Baby boomers lifestyle and abundance is reflected in the space and management. They didn’t start the business for a fortune but happen to make it successful enough to even financially support their children without having to lean on them. On the weekdays, they explore Jeju and when they come back with the spirit lifted from this little getaway, they polish up Ma Maison to offer people the place as comfortable as their own home. Though it’s a private rental house, seeing the owner welcome and interact with her guests like a mom showed me the new way of living that our parents’ generations dream of.
PRICE
Realizing the Fantasy of Living in Jeju in Front of the Sea
Though there has been an increasing number of people who come down to Jeju Island and build a house over the past few years, a lot of people still keep the fantasy of leaving the mainland and creating their nest they have always dreamed of but can’t realize it. However, exactly for this reason, people from the mainland find temporarily renting and staying at a Jeju stone house more attractive and refreshing as an alternative choice. I think 200,000 to 300,000 KRW is more than reasonable to experience Jeju’s living. After having been emptied out, preserved and refurbished, Jeju stone houses have become an attractive place in comparison with generic accommodations found everywhere in the city. The owner of the stone house breathed new life into the space that was fading away and that would be the reason why this place feels even more special.
- Stay Name
- Ma Maison
- Stay Type
- K - Rental house
- Contact information
- Address
- 49-2, Hanpyeong-gil, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea
- Guests / No. of Room
- 2~2 / 1
- Price
- US$ 181.77 ~ US$ 232.67
- Check-in / out
- 16:00 / 10:30
- Feature
- Kitchenette