5 main architectural styles
The seaside architecture is inventive and is constantly renewed according to the dreams of each owner. Styles mix and mingle, while adapting to the evolutions and ways of life of seaside tourism. Five major movements can nevertheless be identified.
The Second Empire current: bricks and materials work
These are the oldest and most sober buildings, often in monochrome or polychrome brick. Ornaments in relief and very elaborate animate the facades: carved stones, niches, pilasters or busts. The effects are created by the roofing methods (overhanging roofs, hips, penetrations, gables...) and the materials used (natural or glazed terracotta, limestone and brick, colored earthenware, plaster and hexagonal rubble...).
Historicism and Eclecticism: Historical knowledge
The builders of the 19th century had a passion for history and the desire to bring it back to life, sometimes mixing different eras and architectural styles. Said "historicist" when they are of a single ancient style, these villas become "eclectic" when they are a clever mixture of influences, borrowed from classical, Italian, Flemish, medieval, renaissance styles...
The Norman style : Wooden panels, checkerboards and colors
The Normandy style has imposed itself on the territory of Deauville. It incorporates several centuries of rural construction in the Pays d'Auge: half-timbered houses, checkerboard brickwork, use of painted wood and subtle roofing... From the 1920s onwards, regionalist half-timbered houses and "Normanization" succeeded the wooden decor. The facades are clad in false brick, stone or wood panelling simulated in a concrete coating with painting of the excess thicknesses. To the motifs, simple at first, are added later oblique or more decorative forms.
Why red roofing?
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In the past, the under-roofs were treated with ox blood, which would have sanitizing properties and would keep away certain insects. The color has remained for some residences for aesthetic and heritage reasons. |
The Chalet : Finely chiselled wooden balconies and large openings
The use of the term "chalet" appears from the creation of seaside resorts. These architectural references originated in the hygienist movement of the mid-19th century (a set of political and social theories whose principle is to design architecture and urbanism by applying the rules of hygiene preservation). The importance of nature, fresh air, the sea or the forest, founded a new relationship to the living environment, in harmony with the surrounding elements, and to the organization of the house around large openings to take advantage of the interior as well as the exterior: deployment of balconies, loggias, old wooden porches...
Villers-sur-Mer, the showroom of the Universal Exhibitions
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The universal exhibitions are the object of discoveries and experiments, where the builders present prefabricated and dismountable buildings in wood pan. Some models were then sold and assembled in the region to showcase their know-how. Four pavilions were reassembled in Villers-sur-Mer: the Chalet Haret or Villa Miramar, a pavilion of the Haret carpentry from the 1867 World's Fair, and three chalets from the 1878 World's Fair, the Chalet Koechlin, former pavilion of Alsace, the Villa Madagascar or Les Foulans and the Chalet des Oiseaux, former Austrian pavilion. |
Art nouveau and Art deco: raw concrete, curves and mosaics
At the beginning of the twentieth century, architects do not like right angles and arrange to round the angles. The Art Nouveau and Art Deco currents then confronted the Anglo-Norman style. These styles found in Deauville some masterful achievements with a deliberately modern style that advocated simplicity of form and sobriety. Raw concrete is favored in this type of construction and mosaics, enameled lava and ceramics are often found on the details and ornamentation of the facades.
