I had the
privilege to visit this “hotel pariculier” (private mansion, townhouse) with
one of Paris’ best preserved (and restored) 17th century interiors.
It’s today referred to as “Hôtel Lauzun” and is since 1928 owned by the City of
Paris. The building is to be found on Ile Saint Louis, which was more or less uninhabited
until the 17th century, but then got a number of similar townhouses
built, mostly for the aristocracy, but also for some rich “bourgeois”, which was
the case with this building. The first owner, by the name of Charles Gruyn, had
made a fortune on supplying cereals to the armies, later imprisoned (mixed up
in Nicolas Fouquet’s disfavour). It seems to be a bit unsure who was the architect
– Louis Le Vau or Charles Chamois and most of the interior decorators and
painters are also unknown. The year of completion seems anyhow to have been
1657.
The
building got the name for which it’s known today from a later occupant, the
Duke of Lauzun (1632-1723), an adventurous personality, with some serious ups and downs
with regard to royal favours (ten years in prison), finally more or less
secretly married to the “greatest heiress in Europe”, known as “La Grande
Mademoiselle”, cousin of Louis XIV.
The
exterior toward the Seine quays offers a beautiful balcony, some dolphin
decorated gutters, and a miss-spelled inscription of Lauzun’s name.
Some
pictures from the interior yard.
The views
from the windows show nice surroundings such as the Seine River, the Pont Marie (…
not the Mary you may believe, but the family name of the person responsible for
its construction, complete in 1635), the dome of the Saint Paul Church…
Some views
from the main entrance stairs, ceilings…
… and some
from the first floor.
The second
floor offers a row of rooms…
… all
covered by paintings, especially by gold, and all kinds of decoration – no “empty
space” anywhere.
During the
18th century the premises had a number of occupants, but the island
was no longer so popular with the higher aristocracy. The Revolution arrived. In
the beginning of the 19th century this hôtel belonged to the Marquis de
Pimodan, who temporarily gave it his name. Many of the mansions on the island were
split into apartments, workshops… This one was saved by a rich art collector, the
Baron Pichon, who bought it in 1842 and gave it back its name “Hôtel Lauzun”. He
rented rooms on the top floor to some illustrious members of the literary intelligentsia,
like Charles Baudelaire and Théophile Gautier. We can see the less prestigious
stairs leading to this top floor. Baudelaire started to write “Les Fleurs du
Mal” here and this is also where Baudelaire, Gautier, de Nerval, Dumas,
Delacroix… met to do some drug experiments, the “Club de Haschischins”.
Today the
City of Paris has installed “L’Institut d’Etudes Avancées” here. You may be
able to get in by the help of a professional guide or historian.
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