Arcachon villa, Historical residential district in Arcachon, France.
The villa district of Arcachon is a residential area with numerous wooden houses featuring ornate facades, detailed carvings, and diverse architectural elements from the Victorian period. The buildings are connected by wide, tree-lined streets and form a cohesive ensemble from the late 19th century.
The area developed in the second half of the 19th century when wealthy Parisians began building summer villas along this Atlantic coast. This period of growth transformed Arcachon into a fashionable seaside resort and escape for Paris's affluent society.
The district became a summer retreat for wealthy Parisian families and reflects a particular lifestyle of the 19th century. Walking through the streets today, you can still see the careful architecture that shows how affluent families shaped their leisure time and their homes.
You can explore the area on foot and observe the wooden houses and their details from the street. The district is easy to navigate and the houses are close together, so you can see many examples without needing to walk far.
The houses often display unusual features such as elevated wooden decks, colored facades, and personal architectural touches that vary from house to house. This diversity emerged because wealthy owners allowed their individual tastes and dreams to shape their summer residences.
Location: Arcachon
GPS coordinates: 44.65684,-1.16843
Latest update: December 6, 2025 16:02
The Bassin d'Arcachon covers 155 square kilometers along the French Atlantic coast and offers numerous subjects for photography. The Dune du Pilat rises 110 meters above sea level and forms the tallest sand dune in Europe. Oyster farming villages such as Gujan-Mestras, L'Herbe, and Le Canon display wooden huts on stilts distributed along the shores. The Cap Ferret peninsula separates the basin from the Atlantic and presents long sandy beaches on both sides. The Cap Ferret lighthouse from 1947 reaches a height of 53 meters. The Île aux Oiseaux sits in the center of the basin and hosts two traditional stilt cabins, the Cabanes Tchanquées, which are surrounded by water at high tide. The town of Arcachon displays 19th-century villas in the Ville d'Hiver, a district with over 300 buildings in Belle Époque style. The Domaine de Certes et Graveyron nature reserve includes former salt marshes and fish ponds now inhabited by herons, spoonbills, and other water birds. The beaches of Pereire and Pyla-sur-Mer provide direct views of the basin and nearby pine forests.
Statue of Heracles, Arcachon
388 m
Plage Thiers
814 m
Parc Mauresque
389 m
Basilique Notre-Dame d'Arcachon
1.1 km
Château Deganne
763 m
Chapelle anglicane Saint-Thomas d'Arcachon
594 m
Synagogue d'Arcachon
175 m
Monument aux morts d'Arcachon
581 m
Villa Toledo
500 m
Villa Thérésa
187 m
Jetée d'Eyrac
981 m
Observatoire Sainte-Cécile
616 m
Jetée de la Chapelle
1.3 km
Église Saint-Ferdinand d'Arcachon
1.4 km
Villa Alma
1.1 km
Villa Plaisance
858 m
Villa Marguerite
622 m
Villa Giroflé
446 m
Villa Faust
575 m
Plage d'Eyrac
1.2 km
Théâtre Olympia
529 m
Villa Saint-Yves
1.1 km
Villa Alexandre Dumas
689 m
Chapelle des marins
1.1 km
Chapelle Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc d'Arcachon
400 m
Passerelle Saint-Paul
583 m
Croix des marins
1.2 km
Jetée Thiers
887 mReviews
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