Neighbour
to the “Hôtel de la Marine” on Place de la Concorde (on which I recently
posted), you can find what today is referred to as “Hôtel de Talleyrand”, built
at about the same period, around 1770, according to the plans by Ange-Jacques
Gabriel, who was the architect of Place de la Concorde – then called Place
Louis XV – and, for a short while, Place de la Révolution.
The
building was first referred to as “Hôtel de Saint-Florentin”, occupied 1767-77
by the count Saint-Florentin, one of Louis XV’s leading ministers, later
marquis, duke. The interior was taken care of by another architect, J-G-T
Chalgrin, later especially known for the Arch of Triumph.
The
building changed hands, passed the revolutionary years…
… and was 1812-38 the home of C-M de Talleyrand-Périgord, normally just
referred to as Talleyrand, a leading French statesman, who got the title of
prince and managed to serve, mostly as foreign minister, as well during Louis
XVI, the Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe. His
Paris home became a political and mundane centre. During different peace talks
some of the visitors were the Russian Tsar Alexander I, the Prussian King Frederick
William III, the Austrian Emperor Francis I, the Duke of Wellington…
1838, the
building was bought by J-M de Rothschild and remained the property of the Rothschild
family until 1950. During the WWII years, it was of course confiscated.
The US State
Department rented the place 1948 and bought it two years later. The
administration of the Marshall Plan worked here until 1952 under the Ambassador
W.A. Harriman. Until 2008 this is where you found e.g. the cultural affairs and
especially the consular services of the US Embassy, now installed in a parallel
building in the opposite corner of Place de la Concorde as part of the large
Embassy complex.
Here you
can see the portraits of Saint-Florentin, Talleyrand, J-M de Rothschild and
G.C.Marshall.
Important
renovations until 2010, involving the World Monuments Fund and a number of
donators, have transformed the building, still owned by the US State Department,
now housing a law firm and especially the George C. Marshall Center reception
rooms, which can be visited (by appointment).
Part of the
interior is from the 18th century, a lot was transformed by Talleyrand
and the Rothschild family during the 19th century, much has been brought
back more or less to “how it was” by the recent renovation works.
Here is the
OEEC (later OECD) / Marshall Plan major meeting room, today used for e.g.
concerts… with a (today copy of) statue of Madame de Pompadour by J-P Pigalle.
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