Houlgate was one of the first seaside resorts on the Normandy coast. From 1851, the inhabitants of Caen came there to enjoy sea baths that experienced a considerable boom with the development of the railway. In 1858, the land near the sea was purchased by a real estate company founded by a Parisian banker, Albin Vergniolle, a lawyer from Lisieux, Victor Delise, and the deputy Amédée René. Jacques Baumier, an architect from Caen, then drew up a first urban plan and organized the space along two parallel lines of narrow plots by the sea and larger and more freely cut-out ones on the heights.