The Château de Malmaison () is a French

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Now ...

situated near the left bank of the Seine, about west of the centre of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, in the commune of

Rueil-Malmaison Rueil-Malmaison () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2017, it had a population of 78,152. It is one of the wealthiest suburbs of P ...

. Formerly the residence of Empress

Joséphine de Beauharnais Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Cou ...

, along with the

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

it was the headquarters of the French government from 1800 to 1802, and

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's last residence in France at the end of the Hundred Days in 1815.

History

bought the manor house in April 1799 for herself and her husband, General Napoléon Bonaparte, the future

Napoléon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, at that time away fighting the

Egyptian Campaign The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...

. Malmaison was a run-down estate, seven miles (12 km) west of central Paris that encompassed nearly of woods and meadows. Upon his return, Bonaparte expressed fury at Joséphine for purchasing such an expensive house with the money she had expected him to bring back from the Egyptian campaign. The house, for which she had paid well over 300,000 francs, needed extensive renovations; she spent a fortune doing them. However, Malmaison would bring great happiness to the Bonapartes. Joséphine's daughter,

Hortense de Beauharnais Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen consort of Holland. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Hortense later married Napol ...

would call it "a delicious spot". Joséphine endeavored to transform the large estate into "the most beautiful and curious garden in Europe, a model of good cultivation". She located rare and exotic plants and animals to enhance the gardens. Joséphine wrote: "I wish that Malmaison may soon become the source of riches for all f France” In 1800, she built a heated

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

large enough for 300

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

plants. Five years later, she ordered the building of a greenhouse, heated by a dozen coal-burning stoves. From 1803 until her death in 1814, Josephine cultivated nearly 200 new plants in France for the first time. The property achieved enduring fame for its

rose garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

. Empress Joséphine had the Belgian artist

Pierre-Joseph Redouté Pierre-Joseph Redouté (, 10 July 1759 – 19 June 1840), was a painter and botanist from Belgium, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at the Château de Malmaison, many of which were published as large, coloured ...

(1759–1840) record her

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s (and

lilies ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

), and prints of these works sell quite well, even today. She created an extensive collection of roses, gathering plants from her native

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

and from other places around the world. She grew some 250 varieties of roses. From the foreword to ''Jardin de la Malmaison'' (1803): Birds and animals of all sorts began to enrich her garden, where they were allowed to roam free among the grounds. At the height of her days at Malmaison, Joséphine had the company of

kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

, emus,

black swans Black swan is the common name for ''Cygnus atratus'', an Australasian waterfowl. (The) Black Swan(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Black Swan'' (film), a 1942 swashbuckler film * ''Black Swans'' (film), a 2005 Dutch drama film * ...

zebras Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

, sheep, gazelles,

ostriches Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There a ...

, chamois, a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

antelopes The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammal ...

and

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft ...

s to name a few. Some were from the Baudin expedition. After her divorce from Napoléon, Joséphine received Malmaison in her own right, along with a pension of 5 million francs a year, and remained there until her death in 1814. Napoléon returned and took residence in the house after his defeat at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

(1815), before his exile to the island of Saint Helena. After Josephine's death in 1814, the house was vacant at times, the garden and house ransacked and vandalised, and the garden's remains were destroyed in a battle in 1870. In 1842, Malmaison was purchased by

Queen mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...

Maria Christina, widow of King

Ferdinand VII of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_p ...

. She lived there with her second husband Agustín Fernando Muñoz, Duke of Riánsares (made a duke by his step-daughter,

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successi ...

, in 1844). In 1861, Maria Christina sold the property to

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, Josephine's grandson through her daughter Hortense. Malmaison was fully restored by the famous French architect Pierre Humbert in the early 20th century. It is now considered an important historical monument.

Present times

The public can visit the manor house as a Napoleonic ''musée national''. The museum lies on RN 13 (''route nationale'' 13) from Paris and bus 258 from

RER A RER A is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris, France and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from east to west, with all t ...

Grande Arche La Grande Arche de la Défense (; "The Great Arch of the Defense"), originally called La Grande Arche de la Fraternité (; "Fraternity"), is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west ...

" station.

Gallery

Exterior

Image:Château de Malmaison à Rueil-Malmaison 001.jpg, View of the southwest facade of the Manor House Image:Château de Malmaison à Rueil-Malmaison 002.jpg, Main entrance in the Manor House Image:Pavillon Osiris Rueil Malmaison.jpg, Pavillon Osiris in the Garden of Malmaison Image:Château de Malmaison à Rueil-Malmaison 003.jpg, View of the main entrance and the main facade (northeast)

Interior

File:Malmaison chambre Joséphine.jpg, Chamber of Napoléon File:Château de Malmaison - Salle de billard 001.jpg, Billiard room File:Château Malmaison salon musique.jpg, Music room File:Château Malmaison service Joséphine.jpg, Joséphine's service - Sèvres porcelain Image:Château de Malmaison - Bibliothèque 001.jpg, Library created in 1800 by Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine Image:Château de Malmaison - Bibliothèque 003.jpg, Furniture in mahogany is the creation of the brothers Jacob-Desmalter Image:Château de Malmaison - Bibliothèque 002.jpg, The celestial globe of Nicolas Constant Lemaire, dating from 1788 Image:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 003.jpg, Simply decorated anteroom Image:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 001.jpg, Luxurious chamber of

with her original bed. Image:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 002.jpg, The wall decoration and the furniture were restored by

in 1865 Image:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 004.jpg, Common Chamber in Joséphine's apartment Image:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 005.jpg, Bed in Joséphine's common chamber Image:Château de Malmaison - Appartement de Joséphine 006.jpg, Bathroom in Joséphine's apartment Image:Château de Malmaison - Salle à manger 002.jpg, Decoration designed by Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine Image:Château de Malmaison - Salle à manger 001.jpg, Murals paintings by Louis Lafitte (1800) represent six pompéiennes dancers Image:Château Malmaison salle à manger.jpg, Dining room

References

External links

Official site

"Josephine's garden", Orient Express Magazine, Vol. 19, No. 1, by HRH Princess Michael of Kent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De Malmaison Malmaison Malmaison Palaces and residences of Napoleon Malmaison Malmaison Biographical museums in France Museums in Hauts-de-Seine National museums of France Napoleon museums Réunion des Musées Nationaux