The Hôtel de Massa is an 18th-century ''

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side an ...

'', or large

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

, at 38 rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

. It was originally located on the

avenue des Champs-Élysées Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, Lo ...

and was moved in 1929 to its present location, in a park beside the gardens of the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...

. Classified as a

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

, it has since been occupied by the

Société des gens de lettres Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

History

The neoclassical hotel was built between 1777 to 1778 by architect Jean-Baptiste Le Boursier for Thiroux de Montsauge, financial receiver-general and minister of finance.
At the time, the location selected lay on the "trail" of the Champs-Elysées but sits now at the intersection of

rue La Boétie The rue La Boétie is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, running from rue d'Astorg to avenue des Champs-Élysées. It is named in honour of Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563), friend of moralist Michel de Montaigne. History From 1640 ...

and avenue des Champs-Elysées. The hôtel was the setting of numerous fêtes galantes and, notably, the romances of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, count d'Artois and brother of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

, and of the duke de Richelieu, Emmanuel Duplessis de Richelieu-Fronsac.

Ownership

*1788: Sold to the duke de Richelieu. *1793: Successively sold to three entrepreneurs during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

as a '' bien national''. *1802: Repurchased by Bonaparte, then

First Consul The Consulate (french: Le Consulat) was the top-level Government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 10 November 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire on 18 May 1804. By extension, the term ''The Con ...

, for the state. *1804: Offered to count Nicola Maresca Donnurso di Serracapriola, Italian ambassador at Paris. *1815: Purchased by the countess de Durfort, daughter of Thiroux de Montsauge. *1825: Purchased by an entrepreneur, M. Bellet. *1827: Sold to the countess de Juigné, daughter of Durfort. *1830: Purchased by the count Flahaut de la Billarderie. *1853: Sold to the baron Roger du Nord, banker of Swiss origin, whose daughter married Alphonse Régnier, duke of Massa, grandson of Claude Régnier, minister of justice for

Napoleon 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 ...

. The duke and his successors inhabited the hotel as of 1857. In 1870, the duke of Massa, watching the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

troops march on the Champs-Elysées, closed the hotel's blinds and swore not to reopen them before the day of revenge: it would be his grandson's privilege to reopen them on July 14, 1918, ironically one day before the

second Battle of the Marne The Second Battle of the Marne (french: Seconde Bataille de la Marne) (15 July – 18 July 1918) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First World War. The attack failed wh ...

began near the river

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

with a German attack.
The hotel, which was shut down immediately by the confrontation, remained closed and uninhabited until 1926.

The relocation

In 1927, the hotel was threatened with demolition. Two businessmen,

Théophile Bader Théophile Bader (24 April 1864 – 16 March 1942), co-founder of Galeries Lafayette, was a French businessman and art collector whose family was persecuted during the Nazi occupation of France because of their Jewish heritage. Early life Théop ...

, then president of the

Galeries Lafayette The Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and othe ...

, and André Lévy, who managed building operations, purchased the building but, not wanting to live in the hôtel, opted for relocation.
Planning to construct on the now-fashionable Champs-Elysées a commercial shopping and office complex designed by André Arfvidson for the National City Bank of America, Lévy worked closely with his friend

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the ...

, national minister of education, to organize and finance the relocation of the hôtel. The building was donated to the state in 1928 on condition that it be destined to the

(SGDL), then led by

Édouard Estaunié Édouard Estaunié (4 February 1862 in Dijon – 2 April 1942 in Paris) was a French novelist. Estaunié trained as a scientist and engineer, working at the Post and Telepgraph service and training further in Holland, before turning to the novel i ...

, to which it was leased for the symbolic price of 1 franc. The SGDL had until then been deprived of an adequate head office, having been housed first at 14, Cité de Trévise (until 1896) and then at the hôtel at 10, Cité Rougement. The state, in the person of

, then minister of public instruction and fine arts, offered a portion of the garden of the

Observatory of Paris The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...

upon which the hotel would be relocated. The building was moved stone by stone under the supervision of André Ventre. The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

furniture ordered on this occasion by the management of the Galeries Lafayette was made up of a unique set of 110 pieces. The interior was itself designated a ''

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' —an historical monument— in 1984. The SGDL brought to this location memorabilia of varied origin and pedigree (portraits, busts and autographs) representing almost 170 years of

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

.
Befittingly, the hotel now sits steps away from where

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

wrote ''

Les Chouans ''Les Chouans'' (, ''The Chouans'') is an 1829 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and included in the ''Scènes de la vie militaire'' section of his novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine''. Set in the French ...

'', ''Histoire des Treize'', ''La Femme de trente ans'' and the start of his ''

la Comédie humaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

''. It was at his instigation, in 1838, following his celebrated ''Lettre aux écrivains français du XIXe siècle'' (1834), that the SGDL now housed in the hotel was founded.

André Maurois André Maurois (; born Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog; 26 July 1885 – 9 October 1967) was a French author. Biography Maurois was born on 26 July 1885 in Elbeuf and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, both in Normandy. A member of ...

: ''Prométhée ou la vie de Balzac''.

Hachette Livre Hachette () is a French publisher. Founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif, the company later became L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, Hachette SA and Hachette Livre in France. After acquiring an Australian publisher, Hachette ...

, 1965

References

External links

La Société des gens de lettres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel De Massa Houses completed in 1778 Buildings and structures in the 14th arrondissement of Paris

Massa Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...