The resort was created in 1876 by Hippolyte de Villemessant (1812–1879), founder and owner of the Paris newspaper, Le Figaro. Then this was an area of wild sand dunes and forest - part of a hunting estate. Its name came from a Picard word meaning ‘corner’, and was originally applied to the area of coast nearby. It became known as “Paris by the sea”, and strict building regulations encouraged the most talented architects to create imaginative and innovative developments
