Hôtel de Massa
Encyclopedia
This 18th-century hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
was originally located on the avenue des Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
and was moved in 1929 to its present location, in a park beside the gardens of the Paris Observatory
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...
. Classified as a historical monument
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, it has since been occupied by the Société des gens de lettres
Société des gens de lettres
The Sociéte des gens de lettres de France is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and George Sand...
.
History
The neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
hotel was built between 1777 to 1778 by architect Jean-Baptiste Le Boursier for Thiroux de Montsauge, financial receiver 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
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.Number 45 is the location of the Salle Gaveau, a 1020-seat concert hall built in 1905-1906 by the architect Jacques Hermant, for the piano manufacturer Gaveau....
and avenue des Champs-Elysées. The hôtel was the setting of numerous fêtes galantes and, notably, the romances of Charles
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, count d'Artois and brother of Louis XVI, and of the duke de Richelieu, Emmanuel Duplessis de Richelieu-Fronsac
Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon was a French soldier and statesman and a nephew of Louis François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Early life:Before the death of his father, he was known at court...
.
Ownership
- 1788: Sold to the duke de Richelieu.
- 1793: Successively sold to three entrepreneurs during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
as a bien nationalBiens nationauxBiens nationaux, or "national property", was a concept in French history. During the French Revolution, the possessions of the Roman Catholic Church were declared national property by the decree of November 2, 1789. These were sold to resolve the financial crisis that caused the Revolution...
. - 1802: Repurchased by BonaparteNapoleon I of FranceNapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, then First Consul, 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 BillarderieCharles Joseph, comte de FlahautAuguste Charles Joseph de Flahaut de La Billarderie, Comte de Flahaut de La Billarderie was a French general and statesman...
. - 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 FranceNapoleon I of FranceNapoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
. The duke and his successors inhabited the hotel as of 1857.
In 1870, the duke of Massa, watching the German 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
Second Battle of the Marne
The Second Battle of the Marne , or Battle of Reims was the last major German Spring Offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The German attack failed when an Allied counterattack led by France overwhelmed the Germans, inflicting severe casualties...
began near the River Marne 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, then president of the Galeries LafayetteGaleries Lafayette
- History :In 1893 Théophile Bader and his cousin Alphonse Kahn opened a fashion store in a small haberdasher's shop at the corner of rue La Fayette and the Chaussée d'Antin, Paris. In 1896, the company purchased the entire building at n°1 rue La Fayette and in 1905 the buildings at n°38, 40 et...
, 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
National City Corp.
National City Corporation was a regional bank holding company based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, founded in 1845; it was once one of the ten largest banks in America in terms of deposits, mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Subsidiary National City Mortgage is credited for doing the first...
, Lévy worked closely with his friend Édouard Herriot
Édouard Herriot
Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and for many years as President of the Chamber of Deputies....
, 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 Société des gens de lettres
Société des gens de lettres
The Sociéte des gens de lettres de France is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and George Sand...
(SGDL), then led by Édouard Estaunié
Édouard Estaunié
Édouard Estaunié was a French novelist. Estaunié trained as a scientist and engineer before turning to the novel in 1891. In 1904, he devised the word "telecommunication". He was elected to the Académie française in 1923...
, 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 Édouard Herriot
Édouard Herriot
Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and for many years as President of the Chamber of Deputies....
, then minister of public instruction and fine arts, offered a portion of the garden of the Observatory of Paris 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
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
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
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
—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
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
.
Befittingly, the hotel now sits steps away from where Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
wrote Les Chouans
Les Chouans
Les Chouans is an 1829 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac and included in the Scènes de la vie militaire section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine. Set in the French region of Brittany, the novel combines military history with a love story between the aristocratic...
, Histoire des Treize, La Femme de trente ans and the start of his la Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac's multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy .-Overview:...
. 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.