The architect Armand-Claude Mollet[1] possessed a property fronting on the road to the village of Roule, west of Paris (now theRue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré), and backing onto royal property, theGrand Cours through theChamps-Élysées. He sold this in 1718 toLouis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Count of Évreux, with the agreement that Mollet would construct anhôtel particulier for the count, fronted by anentrance court and backed by a garden. The Hôtel d'Évreux was finished and decorated by 1722, and though it has undergone many modifications since, it remains a fine example of the Frenchneo-classical style. At the time of his death in 1753, Évreux was the owner of one of the most widely admired houses in Paris, and it was bought by theMarquise de Pompadour on 24 December 1753 for 730,000 livres.[2] Opponents showed their distaste for the regime by hanging signs on the gates that read: "Home of the King's whore".[3] After her death, it was left in her will to the crown.
In 1773, it was purchased byNicolas Beaujon, banker to the court and one of the richest men in France, who needed a suitably sumptuous "country house" (for the city of Paris did not yet extend this far) to house his fabulous collection of great masters paintings. To this end, he hired the architectÉtienne-Louis Boullée to make substantial alterations to the buildings (as well as design an English-style garden). Soon on display there were such well-known masterpieces asHolbein'sThe Ambassadors (now in theNational Gallery inLondon), andFrans Hals'Bohemian (now at theLouvre).[4] His architectural alterations and art galleries gave this residence international renown as "one of the premier houses of Paris".
The southern façade seen from the gardensThe Élysée Palace seen from the gardens
The palace and gardens were purchased from Beaujon byBathilde d'Orléans, Duchess of Bourbon in 1787 for 1,300,000livres.[5] It was the Duchess who named it theÉlysée. She also built a group of cottages in the gardens which she named theHameau de Chantilly, after theHameau at her father-in-law'sChâteau de Chantilly. With theFrench Revolution, the Duchess fled the country and the Élysée was confiscated and leased out. The gardens were used for eating, drinking, and dancing, under the name Hameau de Chantilly, and the rooms became gambling houses.[6]
The Élysée was sold in 1805 toJoachim andCaroline Murat, who administered major renovations that made the building more grand and "imperial".[7] Later, the house was transferred to Caroline's brother, EmperorNapoleon, in 1808; it became known as the Élysée-Napoléon. After theBattle of Waterloo, Napoléon returned to the Élysée and signed hisabdication there on 22 June 1815. He left the Élysée three days later.[6]
Russian Cossacks camped at the Élysée when they occupied Paris in 1814. The property was then returned to its previous owner, the Duchesse de Bourbon, who then sold it to her royal cousin,Louis XVIII, in 1816. Between 1820 and 1848, the palace was primarily used to host guests of the royal family.[8]
Following theFrench Revolution of 1848 and the abdication ofLouis Philippe I, the provisional government of theSecond Republic took over the palace. It was initially used to host musical performances and lectures before being renamed the Élysée National and designated as the official residence of the president of the Republic under the administration ofLouis-Napoléon Bonaparte.[8] The president also has the use of other official residences, including theChâteau de Rambouillet, forty-five kilometres southwest of Paris, as well as theFort de Brégançon nearToulon.
In 1853, following hiscoup d'état that ended the Second Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, now Napoleon III, tasked architectJoseph-Eugène Lacroix [fr] with renovations; meanwhile he moved to the nearbyTuileries Palace, but kept the Élysée as a discreet place to meet his mistresses, moving between the two palaces through a secret underground passage that has since been demolished.[citation needed] Since Lacroix completed his work in 1867, the essential look of the Palais de l'Élysée has remained the same.
In 1873, under theThird Republic, the Élysée became the official presidential residence. In 1899,Félix Faure became the only officeholder to die in the palace.
Gardens of the Élysée Palace
In 1917, achimpanzee escaped from a nearbyménagerie, entered the palace and was said to have tried to haul the wife of PresidentRaymond Poincaré into a tree only to be foiled by Élysée guards.[9] PresidentPaul Deschanel, who resigned in 1920 because of mental illness, was said to have been so impressed by the chimpanzee's feat that, to the alarm of his guests, he took to jumping into trees during state receptions.
The Élysée Palace was closed in June 1940 and remained empty duringWorld War II. It was reoccupied only in 1946 byVincent Auriol, President of theProvisional Government of the French Republic, then first president of theFourth Republic from 1947 to 1954. From 1959 to 1969, the Élysée was occupied byCharles de Gaulle, the first president of theFifth Republic. De Gaulle did not like its lack of privacy and oversaw the purchase of the luxuriousHôtel de Marigny to lodge foreign state officials in visits to France, saying, "I do not like the idea of meeting Kings walking around my corridors in their pyjamas."
In the 1970s, PresidentGeorges Pompidou had some of the original rooms in the palace redesigned byPierre Paulin in the modern style, of which only the Salle à Manger Paulin survives.
Socialist PresidentFrançois Mitterrand, who governed from 1981 to 1995, is said to have seldom used its private apartments, preferring the privacy of his own home on the morebohemianRive Gauche. A discreet flat in the nearby presidential annexePalais de l'Alma housed his mistressAnne Pingeot, mother of his illegitimate daughterMazarine Pingeot.
By contrast, his successorJacques Chirac lived throughout his two terms in office (1995–2007) in the Élysée apartments with his wifeBernadette. Chirac increased the Palace's budget by 105% to 90 million euros per year, according to the bookL'argent caché de l'Élysée. One million euros per year is spent on drinks alone for the guests invited to the Élysée Palace, 6.9 million euros per year on bonuses for presidential staff and 6.1 million euros per year on the 145 extra employees Chirac hired after he was elected in 1995.
The Élysée has gardens, in which presidents hosted parties on the afternoon ofBastille Day until 2010. That year, then-PresidentNicolas Sarkozy decided to stop organising this event because of France's high debt and the economic crisis.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France since 2017, currently resides at the palace.
The heavily guarded mansion and grounds are situated at 55Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré at its intersection withAvenue de Marigny [fr]. A monumental gate with fourIonic order columns, flanked by walls topped by a balustrade, opens onto a large rounded courtyard. The majestic ceremonial courtyard imparts a degree of grandeur to the house. The main residence is constructed in the Frenchneo-classical style. An entrance vestibule is aligned with the ceremonial courtyard and gardens. There is a long central building, a great – or state – apartment divided in the middle by a large salon that opens into the garden. This building also has a central three-storey section, and two single-floor wings: the Appartement des Bains to the right, and the Petit Appartement (private apartments) to the left. The French-style garden has a central path aligned with the central building, patterned flowerbeds and alleys of chestnut trees edged with hedgerows.
Diagram of the ground floor: 1/ Terrasse 2/ Salon d'argent 3/ Salle à Manger 4/ Bibliothèque 5/ Salon bleu 6/ Salon des Cartes 7/ Salle des fêtes 8/ Salon Murat 9/ Salon des Aides de camps 10/ Salon des ambassadeurs 11/ Salon Pompadour 12/ Salon des portraits 13/ Salon Cléopâtre 14/ Escalier Murat 15/ Vestibule d'honneur 16/ Salon des tapisseries 17/ Jardin d'hiver 18/ Salon Napoléon III 19/ Cour d'honneur.
The Vestibule d'Honneur (Hall of Honour) is the room which the main entrance to the palace leads into. In this room thepresident of France meets visiting officials, world leaders and spiritual leaders.
The Salon d'Argent (Silver Room), in the east wing of the palace, was decorated byCaroline Murat, wife ofJoachim Murat and sister ofNapoleon I. The room is so called because of the silver coloured edges to the wall features, mantelpieces, tables, sofas, and armchairs, of which the last have swan sculptures at the sides. Three notable historical events happened in this room. On 22 June 1815, Napoleon formally signed his abdication warrant after losing theBattle of Waterloo that year; on 2 December 1851Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte launched hiscoup d'état; and in 1899, PresidentFélix Faure met his mistress,Marguerite Steinheil.[10]
The Salle à Manger Paulin (Paulin Dining Room), named after its architect,Pierre Paulin, is a complete contrast to most of the other rooms in the palace. It was designed as a private dining room for PresidentGeorges Pompidou and his wifeClaude, and the interior and furniture date from the 1970s. The walls are made of 22polyester panels, the chairs have a single leg attached to a round base, and the round table is made of glass. The room is lit by roof panels decorated with glass balls and rods.[10]
The Salle des Fêtes (Hall of Festivities) dominates the west wing of the palace. It was designed byEugène Debressenne [fr] and opened on 10 May 1889 by the then president,Sadi Carnot, to coincide with theExposition Universelle that year. The room has paintings on the ceiling called "La République sauvegarde la Paix" (The Republic Safeguards Peace), painted byGuillaume Dubufe in 1894. There are also sixGobelins tapestries in the room, which is predominantly laid out in red and gold decor. In 1984 PresidentFrançois Mitterrand added ten windows to the room to let in more light. It is in this room that allFrench presidents are inaugurated, and where they host official conferences and banquets.[10]
The Jardins d'Hiver (Winter Gardens) was built in 1883 as a greenhouse for growing plants. Today it is no longer used for this purpose, being instead an extension of the Salon des Fêtes, and used for official banquets. There is aGobelins tapestry on the wall, and three chandeliers hang from the ceiling.[10]
Salon des AmbassadeursSalon Cléopâtre
The Salon Murat (Murat Room) is used every Wednesday by thepresident for meetings with theprime minister and the rest of theGovernment of France, along with the presidential secretary, known as the "Secretary-General of the Élysée". It was also in this room thatKonrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany, signed theÉlysée Treaty in 1963.
The Salon Vert (Green Room) is named after the green curtains and chair covers (the doors, chairs, tables, and wall features have gold edges). The room is used for reunions, and it was here thatNicolas Sarkozy married his second wife,Carla Bruni, during his presidency.
The Salon Angle (Angle Room) is a former dining room that has been the office of the Secretary-General of the Élysée since 2007.
The Ancienne Chambre de la Reine and the Ancienne Chambre du Roi were the bedrooms of the former Kings and Queens of France. The latter room was formerly used as the office of the Secretary-General before he moved it to the Salon Angle.
Six other rooms on the first floor, in the east wing, are the president's private living quarters.
The Escalier Murat, linking the ground and first floors
The president's desk in the Salon Doré in 2008, during the presidency ofNicolas Sarkozy
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