The Hôtel de Marigny () is an ''

hôtel particulier () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

'' at 23 Avenue de Marigny in the 8th arrondissement of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, across the street from the

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

. It is used as a state guest house for

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

ors to France and has been the property of the French government since 1972. Previously, state guests were housed at the Grand Trianon from 1959.

History

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 . 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 Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe (7 February 1834 – 29 October 1895) was a French architect. Biography Born in Paris, he worked on the Great Exhibitions held in the city in 1855 and 1867. As the architect of the Consistory of Paris, in 1867 he began ...

. In 1971, the Rothschild family parted with the property. President

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

had it bought to be turned into a state house. During a 1978 state visit, Romanian President

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

stole millions of francs worth of decorations, including "ornaments, paintings, lamps and vases", even tearing off the "gold taps". Today, the Hôtel 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

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

: the entrance to the main lobby comprises two lower-level reception areas beneath the raised ground-floor, while the upper portion contains four

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

s framing a

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

and two niches, bearing a frame and sculpted frontispiece of the same provenance.

References

External links

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Hôtel de Marigny on the French presidential websiteAdditional information on the French presidential website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel De Marigny Hôtels particuliers in Paris Official residences in France Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris Rothschild family residences State guesthouses