State guest house in Paris, France
The
Hotel de Marigny
(
French pronunciation:
[ot?l
d?
ma?i?i]
) is an
hotel particulier
, a type of large
townhouse
in France, on the Avenue de Marigny in the
8th arrondissement
of
Paris
, across the street from the
Elysee Palace
. It is used as a
state guest house
for
state visitors
to France. The house has been the property of the French government since 1972. Previously, state guests were housed at the
Grand Trianon
from 1959.
History
[
edit
]
Its history dates back to 15 June 1869, when
Baron Gustave de Rothschild
paid the
Duchesse de Bauffremont
2,700,000 francs for two townhouses, at 21 Avenue de Marigny and 14 Rue du Cirque, with a total floorspace of approximately 40,000 square feet (3,700 m
2
).
In 1872, the Baron decided to combine the two buildings into a single property and to erect additional buildings on part of the site. On 17 May 1879, he acquired the townhouse at 13 Avenue de Marigny. Extensive work was carried out on the site from 1873 onwards, lasting for nearly 10 years, under the direction of the Baron's architect,
Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe
.
In 1971, the Rothschild family parted with the property. President
Georges Pompidou
had it bought to be turned into a state house. During a 1978 state visit, Romanian President
Nicolae Ceau?escu
stole for millions of francs worth of decorations, including "ornaments, paintings, lamps and vases", even tearing off the "gold faucets".
[1]
Today, the Hotel de Marigny comprises a main building with one two-story wing at right angles, standing above a vast basement area for the domestic services. The main emphasis is on the monumental central part of the
facade
: the entrance to the main lobby comprises two lower-level reception areas beneath the raised ground-floor, while the upper portion contains four
Corinthian columns
framing a
bay window
and two niches, bearing a frame and sculpted
frontispiece
of the same provenance.
References
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External links
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48°52′14″N
2°18′55″E
/
48.870529°N 2.315202°E
/
48.870529; 2.315202