Hôtel Hesselin
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The Hôtel Hesselin (), later known as the Hôtel d'Ambrun (), was an aristocratic town house (''
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 ...
'') located in Paris that was erected around 1639 to 1642 for
Louis Hesselin Louis Hesselin, Seigneur de Condé (; February 1602 – 8 August 1662)Weil-Courier 2011. was a French aristocrat, government official, patron and collector. He held various positions in the royal household and became Intendant of the Menus Plai ...
to the designs of the French architect
Louis Le Vau Louis Le Vau (; c. 1612 – 11 October 1670) was a French Baroque architect, who worked for Louis XIV of France. He was an architect that helped develop the French Classical style in the 17th century.''Encyclopedia of World Biography''"Louis Le ...
.Cojannot 2012, p. 103. It was on the south side of the
Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...
, west of the rue Poulletier at its intersection with the quai du Dauphin (now 24 quai de Béthune,
4th arrondissement of Paris The 4th arrondissement of Paris (''IVe arrondissement'') is one of the twenty Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''quatrième''. Along with the 1 ...
). The hotel was demolished in 1935 by
Helena Rubinstein Helena Rubinstein (born Chaja Rubinstein; December 25, 1872 – April 1, 1965) was a Polish and American businesswoman, art collector, and philanthropist. A cosmetics entrepreneur, she was the founder and eponym of Helena Rubinstein Incorporate ...
, who had a new building erected to the designs of the architect
Louis Süe Louis Süe (14 July 1875 – 7 August 1968) was a French painter, architect, designer and decorator. He and André Mare co-founded the ''Compagnie des arts français'', which produced Art Deco furniture and interior decorations for wealthy custome ...
.


Architecture


Layout

Le Vau's designs for the Hôtel Hesselin were reproduced in six engravings by
Jean Marot Jean Marot (; Mathieu, near Caen, 1463 – c. 1526) was a French poet of the late 15th and early 16 century and the father of the French Renaissance poet Clément Marot. He is often grouped with the " Grands Rhétoriqueurs". Jean Marot seems ...
, 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 In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal or main block, or central building of a mansion, country or manor house, castle, or palace. It contains the rooms of principal business, the state apartments and the ceremonial or formal ...
'', far away from the street, to behind the wings used for living, so the latter were near the
River Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres p ...
and provided vistas across the river toward the
University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
and upriver toward Salpêtrière Hospital.Blunt 1953, p. 132. The courtyard was reached from the quai via a carriage entryway (''
porte cochère Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...
'') 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 Louis Le Vau (; c. 1612 – 11 October 1670) was a French Baroque architect, who worked for Louis XIV of France. He was an architect that helped develop the French Classical style in the 17th century.''Encyclopedia of World Biography''"Louis Le ...
's plans (river quai at the bottom), engraved by
Jean Marot Jean Marot (; Mathieu, near Caen, 1463 – c. 1526) was a French poet of the late 15th and early 16 century and the father of the French Renaissance poet Clément Marot. He is often grouped with the " Grands Rhétoriqueurs". Jean Marot seems ...
"> File:L'Architecture française (Marot) - Damiron 1967 ex117-015 Hôtel Hesselin, dessous du Rez de Chaussée.jpg, Plan of the basement File:L'Architecture française (Marot) - Damiron 1967 ex117-016 Hôtel Hesselin, Rez de Chaussée.jpg, Plan of the ground floor File:L'Architecture française (Marot) - Damiron 1967 ex117-017 Hôtel Hesselin, second Étage.jpg, Plan of the main floor


Elevations

Another imaginative feature of the house was the arrangement of the facades along the river. Le Vau was also responsible for the design and construction of the house to the left, the Hôtel Sainctot, the river side of which was nearly complete by 1640. He combined the elevations of the two houses so they formed a nearly symmetrical ensemble. File:L'Architecture française (Marot) - Damiron 1967 ex117-018 Hôtel Hesselin, face de l'entrée.jpg, River facades of the Hôtel Hesselin (three-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
central pavilion and six-bay façade on the right); Hôtel Sainctot (five-bay façade on the left) File:L'Architecture française (Marot) - Damiron 1967 ex117-020 Hôtel Hesselin, Aspect.jpg, Garden facades (Hôtel Sainctot to the right) File:L'Architecture française (Marot) - Damiron 1967 ex117-019 Hôtel Hesselin, Profil de dedans.jpg, Long section, view to the east Eugène Atget Eugène Atget (; 12 February 1857 – 4 August 1927) was a French ''flâneur'' and a pioneer of documentary photography, noted for his determination to document all of the architecture and street scenes of Paris before their disappearance to mod ...
 in 1899"> File:Hôtel d'Hasselin - Arcade sur cour - Paris 04 - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00037588.jpg, Courtyard viewed from the southwest.
The Église Saint-Louis-en-l'Île is in the background. File:Hôtel d'Hasselin - Vue de la cour - Paris 04 - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00037590.jpg, View of the courtyard toward the carriage passageway to the street File:Hôtel d'Hasselin - Vue de la cour et de la fontaine - Paris 04 - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00037726.jpg, Fountain in the northeast corner


Demolition

The Hôtel Hesselin was purchased in 1932 by the rich American cosmetics magnate
Helena Rubinstein Helena Rubinstein (born Chaja Rubinstein; December 25, 1872 – April 1, 1965) was a Polish and American businesswoman, art collector, and philanthropist. A cosmetics entrepreneur, she was the founder and eponym of Helena Rubinstein Incorporate ...
"for a song" and had tenants living in it. After nearly three years, when the last of the tenants moved out, Helena Rubinstein moved to have the hotel demolished despite the neighbouring residents and press protesting against the demolition. She justified her decision by saying the foundations had been undermined by repeated flooding of the Seine. The hotel was demolished in 1935 at the request of Rubinstein, and a new building was erected to the designs of the architect
Louis Süe Louis Süe (14 July 1875 – 7 August 1968) was a French painter, architect, designer and decorator. He and André Mare co-founded the ''Compagnie des arts français'', which produced Art Deco furniture and interior decorations for wealthy custome ...
. The new building incorporated elements from the original, including Le Hongre's doors from the carriage entryway and an iron balcony, which had been declared a ''
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 collection of buildings, ...
'' in 1927.
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 ...
, president of the French Republic from 1969 to 1974, resided in this building.See photo of plaque :Commons:File:Plaque 24 quai de Béthune.jpg. Louis Süe Louis Süe (14 July 1875 – 7 August 1968) was a French painter, architect, designer and decorator. He and André Mare co-founded the ''Compagnie des arts français'', which produced Art Deco furniture and interior decorations for wealthy custome ...
"> File:24 quai de Béthune Paris.jpg, River façade File:Quai de Béthune, 24.jpg, Le Hongre's doors File:Immeuble au 24 quai de Béthune Paris 4e.jpg, Southeast corner


Notes


Bibliography

*
Blunt, Anthony Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University o ...
(1953). ''Art and Architecture in France 1500 to 1700''. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. . * Bordier, Cyril (1998). ''Louis Le Vau, Architecte: Les immeubles et hôtels particuliers parisiens''. Paris: Librairie Léonce Laget. . * Cojannot, Alexandre (2012). ''Louis Le Vau et les nouvelles ambitions de l'architecture française 1612–1654''. Paris: Picard. . * Deutsch, Kristina (2015). ''Jean Marot : Un graveur d'architecture à l'époque de Louis XIV''. Berlin: De Gruyter. . * Fitoussi, Michèle (2012). ''Helena Rubinstein, the Woman Who Invented Beauty'', translated from French by Kate Bignold and Lakshmi Ramakrishnan Iyer. London: Gallic Books. . First published in 2010 as ''Helena Rubinstein : La femme qui inventa la beauté''. Paris: Bernard Grasset. . {{coord, 48.850782, 2.35740, scale:1000_region:FR, display=title Hesselin Buildings and structures in the 4th arrondissement of Paris Houses completed in 1642 Ancien Régime French architecture Demolished buildings and structures in Paris Former buildings and structures in Paris 1642 establishments in France Buildings and structures demolished in 1935