About Knokke

Knokhouse is locatedin the municipality of Knokke-Heist, which is located in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium. 

Knokke is the most north-eastern seaside resort on the Belgian coast. It lies adjacent to the Dutch border; separated from the Dutch territory by the Zwin nature reserve. Knokke came into existence as a result of the construction of dikes that were to protect the area around the 'Zwin' sea-arm

Originally a vacation haven for the city folk of Brussels in the early 19th century, artists such as James Ensor, Alfred Verwee and others started to frequent the small hamlet to paint its beautiful vistas. The artists rented a small miller's cottage and founded the Cercle des Artistes in 1880. It gradually became a resort town with upscale clientele, restaurants and shops.

The style of the resort was set in the early 20th century, when the Lippens family, descendants of the man who reclaimed this area from the sea in the 1790s, thought they would do something more interesting than grow potatoes. They decided to develop some of their farmland as a holiday destination to rank with Deauville and Trouville, the Normandy watering places that had been fashionable since the time of Napoleon III