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All France Équihen-Plage Inverted Boat Houses

Inverted Boat Houses

These rustic holiday homes are made from discarded fishing boat hulls.

Équihen-Plage, France

Added By
Enzo RhodeHagen
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Boat houses.   Bertrand Hodicq/cc by-sa 4.0
Boat houses.   Bertrand Hodicq/cc by-sa 4.0
Boat houses.   Bateloupreaut/cc by-sa 3.0
A boat house.   Bateloupreaut/cc by-sa 4.0
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About

A holiday destination in Equihen-Plage, in the North of France, is reviving an old tradition of building houses out of discarded boat hulls. In the past, this type of unconventional abode was made by poor fishermen and, in some cases, their widows.

The hulls, after receiving a waterproof coating of tar, become the roofs. They’re then raised on small brick-and-mortar walls that only allow for a small bit of headroom. Doors and windows are then cut out from the hulls. The interiors of these houses, which are typically single-room, are quite dark and cramped.

This kind of house was mainly used by fishermen in the 19th and 20th centuries as makeshift shelters or cheap homes. Today, they serve as a niche tourist attraction.

Most of the original boat houses were destroyed during World War II, and it seemed that this piece of coastal heritage would be lost forever. But in the 1990s, interest in the houses resurged, leading some to reconstruct inverted boat houses and use them as rustic holiday accomodations.

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Houses Architectural Oddities Boats Fishing Places To Stay Architecture Homes

Know Before You Go

You can make a reservation to stay in one of these unusual houses online.

Community Contributors

Added By

Enzo RhodeHagen

Edited By

Kerry Wolfe

  • Kerry Wolfe

Published

November 30, 2018

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Sources
  • http://www.camping-equihen-plage.fr/uk/hebergements.php?type_heb=1
  • https://interestingengineering.com/village-upside-down-boat-houses-next-holiday-destination
Inverted Boat Houses
Rue Charles Cazin
Équihen-Plage
France
50.670796, 1.574934
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