2-913-758 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Hotel Brighton, Boulogne, 1854. Buildings in northern France commandeered for the military during the Crimean War. 'The Hotel Brighton, recently engaged by the Emperor of the French is, properly speaking, not at Boulogne, but at Capécure, which is a faubourg of Boulogne. It is a long yellow building, with no pretensions to any style or beauty of architecture, with "Hotel Brighton" in monster black letters painted on the outside. The front looks towards some extensive gardens which belong to it, and which are very tastefully arranged. The building is commodious. A temporary corps de garde for the Imperial Grenadiers...and temporary stables for the Imperial stud, have been erected. The private hotels and houses in the vicinity are occupied by the Emperor's staff and household'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.