Houlgate trip planner

Houlgate is a small tourist resort in northwestern France along the English Channel with a beach and a casino. It is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region.HistoryPre-19th centuryHoulgate developed as a hamlet in the commune of Beuzeval. Up until the 19th century, Beuzeval consisted of only a few small houses and farms. On the southern side of the stream was Le Hameau de la Mer, consisting of a few houses, a tile and brick works and a water mill. In 1793, only 204 inhabitants lived in the commune.19th century - development as a resortBetween 1845 and 1850, sea bathing became popular in Beuzeval. The Pilter family opened the first guesthouse for poorer protestant families in 1851 on Rue Sébastien-de-Neufville. Numbers of tourists gradually increased, first from Caen and then Paris and so a wooden boarding house was built. The sea-side village was named Beuzeval-les-Bains and attracted much Protestant gentry. The population increased from the 1860s onwards: 270 inhabitants en 1851, 345 in 1861, 515 in 1872 and 1 011 in 1881.The north bank of the Drochon, larger and flatter, was still undeveloped. A company called the Société de Construction Immobilière (S.C.I.) was formed in 1858 to develop that area of Beuzeval. The company was formed by three men, a financier, a lawyer and a member of parliament, who bought most of the land, divided it into properties, drew the lines for streets and built a wall protecting the developing town from the sea. Within a few years large villas (then called chalets) were built and the quality of build can be seen now as most of these properties still exist.