The Hôtel de Pontalba is a

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 ...

, a type of 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 ...

of France, at 41

Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré The Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré () is a street located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Relatively narrow and nondescript, especially in comparison to the nearby Avenue des Champs-Élysées, it is cited as being one of the most luxu ...

in the

8th arrondissement of Paris The 8th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, the arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le huitième'' ("the eighth"). The arrondissement, ...

. It has been the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

United States Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...

since 1971.

History

In 1710,

Henri François d'Aguesseau Henri François d'Aguesseau (; 27 November 16685 February 1751) was Chancellor of France three times between 1717 and 1750 and pronounced by Voltaire to be "the most learned magistrate France ever possessed". Early life He was born in Limoges, ...

Chancellor of France In France, under the ''Ancien Régime'', the officer of state responsible for the judiciary was the Chancellor of Francesometimes called Grand Chancellor or Lord Chancellor (french: Chancelier de France). The Chancellor was responsible for seei ...

, acquired a tract of land which included the present site of the Hôtel de Pontalba. Ten years later, he built a house, and the house subsequently passed through a series of owners.

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

-born

Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba Micaela Leonarda Antonia de Almonester Rojas y de la Ronde, Baroness de Pontalba (November 6, 1795"Jackson Square". ''Louisiana Historical Quarterly''. Henry Renshaw.- April 20, 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans-born Creole aristocrat, businesswoma ...

purchased the property in 1836, and by 1842, she had demolished the d'Aguesseau house and commissioned the architect

Louis Visconti Louis Tullius Joachim Visconti (Rome February 11, 1791 – December 29, 1853) was an Italian-born French architect and designer. Life Son of the Italian archaeologist and art historian Ennio Quirino Visconti, Visconti designed many Pari ...

to design a newer house for the site. Construction of the mansion was finished in 1855. Baroness de Pontalba occupied the mansion until her death in 1874, upon which it was willed to her heirs who sold the property to Baron

Edmond James de Rothschild Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (Hebrew: הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין ג'יימס רוטשילד - ''HaBaron Avraham Edmond Binyamin Ya'akov Rotshield''; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French memb ...

in 1876. Baron de Rothschild hired Felix Langlais to substantially renovate, enlarge, and embellish the residence, leaving only the original gatehouse and portals intact, but following much of the H-shaped ground floor plan. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the mansion, then owned by Baron

Maurice de Rothschild Maurice Edmond Karl de Rothschild (19 May 1881 – 4 September 1957) was a French art collector, vineyard owner, financier and politician. He was born into the Rothschild banking family of France. Early life Maurice de Rothschild was born on 19 ...

, was requisitioned by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

as an officers' club for the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. After the war, it was rented out to the British Royal Air Force Club, and then to the U.S. In 1948, the American government purchased the building, primarily for the

United States Information Service The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

. These offices were moved to the Hôtel Talleyrand as restoration was completed in 1971 during the tenure of Ambassador Arthur K. Watson. The building then became the official residence of the ambassador.

References

External links

Official Residence of the Ambassador

Website of the Embassy of the United States in Paris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel De Pontalba Houses completed in 1855 Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris Ambassadorial residences Buildings of the United States government France–United States relations Pontalba Luftwaffe Official residences in France Rothschild family residences Royal Air Force

History

See also

References

External links