An architectural model can make a vanished building easier to understand than a familiar place name. Dieppe’s museum documents a tactile model of its former Moorish-style casino, while today’s Casino de Dieppe occupies a postwar building. Comparing the two helps separate the history of the institution from the history of any single façade.
A former casino at model scale
The Musée de Dieppe’s 2023 educational guide identifies the model as a 2007 reconstruction of the casino as it appeared in 1886. Measuring one metre square, it includes the landscaped lawns near the pebble beach. The museum presents its tactile qualities as a way of exploring the building through touch.
The same guide dates the Moorish-style casino to 1886 and credits Alexandre Durville. Red and white brick helped establish its appearance. Later came an Art Deco casino associated with Raoul Jourde, followed by wartime destruction and temporary postwar venues. The current concrete-and-glass casino arrived in 1961, set back from the lawns and beach.
A poster records the promise of the resort
A separate national museum-collection record documents a colour lithographic advertisement titled Casino de Dieppe, attributed to Jules Chéret and printed by Chaix. It depicts the older casino from the seaward side, with promenading visitors, beach cabins and a music kiosk. The record connects the image to the 1886 opening.
The advertisement promoted the enlarged terrace, garden and entertainment programme. As evidence, it tells us how the destination wanted to be seen. A promotional image and a later museum model perform different jobs: one persuades a potential visitor; the other reconstructs a building that can no longer be encountered in its original setting.
Today, Partouche’s current contact page identifies Casino de Dieppe at 3 boulevard de Verdun. It lists a casino, hotel, restaurant, performances and reception rooms, along with operating hours. The address anchors the present-day venue without implying that the ornate building represented in the museum still stands there.
This is a useful way to approach casino heritage more broadly. Start by identifying what a source represents: a surviving building, an earlier structure, an advertisement or a reconstruction. In Dieppe, that distinction allows the museum objects and the modern venue to complement each other. Each records a different chapter in the city’s changing relationship with the seafront.
Directory reference: Casino Partouche Dieppe. Sources checked on 7 November 2026.
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