Fort d'Auvergne Hotel

The Fort D'Auvergne Hotel on the seafront at Havre des Pas, which is still in business today as part of the Morvan family's hotel group, was built on the site of a former military installation. La Garde du Havre des Pas was constructed in about 1756 and formed part of the increased fortification of the Island’s coastline. It was renamed Fort d'Auvergne in about 1833 in honour of Major-General James d'Auvergne. It consisted of a boulevard, powder magazine and two guns. Later in the 19th century it became privately owned by the Allix family and was used as lodgings for workers in their Havre des Pas shipyards. In a 1920 almanac the property is listed as Fort d'Auvergne House and cottages. It was sold by the Allix family to George Thomas Day in the mid-1820s. He appears to have opened the hotel in 1925 and to have sold it as a going concern to to Arthur Cabeldu in 1930. As this postcard shows, the property was rebuilt on a much grander scale by 1836. One of its attractions, according to the postcard, was Felix - the fishing cat of Fort d'Auvergne.