An Architectural Stroll Around Biarritz

For their honeymoon, the imperial couple stayed at the Château Grammont, which was owned by the Mayor of Bayonne, Jules Labat.

In 1866, Labat had his 1804 castle razed to the ground, in order to rebuild it in a more up-to-date style. This is the building we still admire today, restored with support from the Fondation du Patrimoine (Cultural Heritage Foundation).

It was while they were on their honeymoon that Eugénie and Napoleon acquired the 14 plots of land that now make up the more-than-50-acre imperial estate. Built in 1834, it extends from the Grande Plage to the lighthouse.
Their choice of location was influenced by the Palais du Pharo in Marseille.

The Villa Eugénie was built in a Louis XIII style, with the help of the architect Hippolyte Durand, known for having built the Château de Monte-Cristo for Alexandre Dumas.
Built over a 10-month period, it subsequently hosted the imperial couple every summer from 1855 to 1868.

Eugénie de Montijo remained the owner of the estate, but when, in 1880, the French Republic allowed her to enjoy it again, she decided to sell the property because it was too full of memories.

However, when a fire ravaged the residence in 1903, she said, "I thought I had lost the ability to cry. But I cried just the other day when I heard about my precious villa in Biarritz burning down."

This sculpture is the last surviving trace of the Villa Eugénie. It formed part of the building's façade and a clock would have been set in the central hollow.

At the end of the 19th century, because Russian visitors to the Hôtel du Palais made up such a significant portion of the clientele, it was decided in 1892 that an Orthodox church would be built opposite the establishment.
The destination became even more popular following the 1917 Russian Revolution, with many Russian emigrants—dubbed the white émigrés or white Russians—fleeing to Biarritz in exile.
Today, the church is the subject of a restoration plan supported by the Mission Patrimoine 2019.

In February 1903, there was a fire at the Hôtel du Palais that destroyed most of the building.
It was rebuilt the following year with an additional floor and several extensions.
It had 110 rooms before the fire, but when the hotel reopened in 1905, it had 300 rooms and 20 suites.

The Edward VII Villas, designed in the Anglo-Norman style, were built in 1925 as annexes to the Hôtel du Palais. Guests of the villas were afforded all the same comforts as the main palace.
The villas were named after the English king who visited the hotel every summer between 1906 and 1910.

The Belle Époque was a good time for Biarritz. The Hôtel du Palais was no longer big enough to accommodate all of the city's visitors.
The Le Régina Hôtel was built in 1907, on the former imperial estate, overlooking the cliffs with a view of the ocean.
Its architecture, typical of the time, makes it a very representative example of that period.

Located opposite the Hôtel du Palais, the Hôtel Carlton, built in 1908, is another testament to the flourishing hotel activity that was underway at the turn of the 20th century.
In the 1950s, the Carlton and several other hotels in the city lost their wealthy clientele. They were then divided up into apartments.

La Villa Larralde was the first villa to be built on the slope leading down to the Grande Plage. It was commissioned in 1867 by a British man named Mr. Bellairs, inspired by the writings of Viollet-le-Duc.
In 1915, the villa was rented by Coco Chanel, who set up her studio there. She bought it in 1918.

Le Château Boulart was built on the highest point in Biarritz. In the 1870s, Marthe and Charles Boulart commissioned Joseph Louis Duc, one of the most renowned French architects of the century, to build it.
Built in an eclectic style suited to its era, it is nicknamed La Folie Boulart

Its interior is also masterful, as attested by this mosaic-floored atrium topped with a polygonal gallery and supported by 8 marble columns.
However, the chateau's destiny turned out to be somewhat less lavish; it served as a care center for recovering American officers in 1918, then as a religious boarding school from 1920.
Recently acquired by a couple of architecture enthusiasts, it was finally fully restored in 2019.

The Cyrano Villa also had an astonishing fate.
Félix Labat, an industrialist in Madrid, had it built in 1900, opposite the Hôtel du Palais, then he sold the plot to Biarritz Carlton Hôtel Ltd. to be used as the site of the famous hotel.

Aware of the architectural significance of the villa, Alfred Boulant—owner of the Hôtel du Palais—acquired it, dismantled it, and then had it reassembled stone by stone just 100 feet farther up the same street. The villa was then named Cyrano in honor of Edmond Rostand, author of the play Cyrano de Bergerac.

The Casablanca Villa is another one of the city's iconic residences.
Built in 1922 in an oriental style, it became a pinnacle of French taste. It was owned by couturier Jean Patou—a great rival of Coco Chanel—and celebrities such as Sarah Bernhardt, Josephine Baker, and Mistinguett all went there for clothes fittings.

In addition to gambling rooms, the Bellevue was home to restaurants, fashion boutiques, a ballroom, a concert hall, and even a photographer's studio, so elegant ladies could take home a souvenir of their stay.
Following a fire in 1886, the Casino Bellevue was immediately rebuilt.
The Casino was continually expanded and modernized throughout the 20th century.

In 1926, its Art Deco façade was built overlooking the Grande Plage.
The festivities resumed in the 1950s, with events such as Roland Petipa ballets and performances by Josephine Baker taking place there.
Bought by the city council in 1982, it was redeveloped by Wilmotte and turned into a conference center and exhibition hall.