 In 1854, the Emperor Napoleon III and Eugénie bought several acres of dunes in Biarritz and gave the engineer Dagueret the task of establishing a summer home surrounded by gardens, woods, meadows, a pond and outbuildings.Napoleon III chose the location near Spain so his wife would not get homesick for her native country.The house was called the Villa Eugénie, today the Hôtel du Palais.