Hôtel Hesselin

The Hôtel Hesselin, later known as the Hôtel d'Ambrun, was a Parisian town house (''hôtel particulier''), erected around 1639 to 1642 for Louis Hesselin to the designs of the French architect Louis Le Vau.Cojannot 2012, p. 103. It was located on the Île Saint-Louis, on the west side of the rue Poulletier at its intersection with the quai du Dauphin (now 24 quai de Béthune, 4th arrondissement of Paris). The hotel was demolished in 1935 by Helena Rubinstein, who had a new building erected to the designs of the architect Louis Sue.

Architecture

Layout

Le Vau's designs for the Hôtel Hesselin were reproduced in six engravings by Jean Marot, which were published in the ''Grand Marot'' in 1686. The house shows Le Vau's skill at adapting plans to unique and unusual sites. Since the plot was located on a quiet quai, where street noise was minimal, he moved the entrance courtyard, which typically kept the main part of the house, the ''corps de logis'', far away from the street, to behind the wings used for living, so the latter were near the River Seine and provided vistas across the river toward the University and upriver toward the Salpêtrière.Blunt 1953, p. 132. The courtyard was reached from the quai via a carriage entryway (''porte cochère'') and passageway. The impressive doors of the carriage entryway were sculpted by Étienne Le Hongre and have been preserved. The courtyard led directly to the garden at the rear, and the stables were east of the garden, along the rue Poulletier. On the right side of the courtyard a short flight of steps led to a highly decorated vestibule with a grand staircase on its south side leading to the main floor above, where there was a grand gallery (''grande galerie'') running parallel to the quai, with four windows overlooking the river to the south and three, the courtyard to the north.Bordier 1998, pp. 169–191.

Louis Le Vau