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| Hôtel Matignon | |
|---|---|
 Main façade andgrande cour | |
 Interactive map of Hôtel Matignon | |
| General information | |
| Type | Hôtel particulier |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
| Location | 7th arrondissement of Paris, France |
| Current tenants | Sébastien Lecornu (Prime Minister of France) |
| Construction started | 1722 |
| Completed | 1725 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Jean Courtonne |
TheHôtel Matignon (French:Hôtel de Matignon,pronounced[otɛld(ə)matiɲɔ̃]) is theofficial residence of thePrime Minister of France. It is located in the7th arrondissement of Paris, at 57 Rue de Varenne. The nameMatignon is often used as ametonym for the governmental action of the prime minister.[1]
In 1649, as part of his plan for the construction of theHôtel des Invalides,Louis XIV decided to restore the old "Chemin du Bois de la Garenne," which had become the "Rue de Varenne," that linkedSaint-Germain-des-Prés, at the western end of Paris, with the marshy terrain chosen as the new building site. Henceforth the "Noble Faubourg" gained a new lease on life, the proximity ofVersailles being irresistible for an aristocracy who lived exclusively by and for the Court.[2]
On 30 September 1717,Christian-Louis de Montmorency Luxembourg, Prince of Tigny andMarshal of France, purchased, for the sum of 91Livres, 2869toises (30,000 m2) of land along the Rue de Varenne. He was a lover of gardens and intended to create a country park. In 1722, he commissioned a little-known architect,Jean Courtonne, to conceive and construct a mansion.[3] His success in this endeavour won him entry to theAcademy of Architecture, where he wrote a much-remarkedTreatise on Perspectives (1725). But the expense of the enterprise forced the Prince of Tigny to sell, and it wasJacques Goyon, Count of Matignon who bought the Hôtel, completed in 1725, as a present for his son, theDuke of Valentinois.
Courtonne's design was highly original. Rising from a broad terrace, the main residence, a two-storey building crowned by abalustrade, comprises two suites of rooms. Access from the street is gained by aportico ornamented by columns. This archway reveals the main courtyard, bracketed by two low wings of offices and outbuildings, to the right of which are situated another courtyard, the stables and the kitchens. The façade is broken by three advances. Those to the right and left house the staircases, while the central pavilion displays a magnificent balcony sculpted with lion motifs. Visitors' admiration is drawn by two singular architectural features: the segmentedcupola of the entrance hall and, to its right, the first room to have been originally designed for dining. The façade seen from the garden runs the entire length of the buildings, concealing the main courtyard and the servants' yard. Although the design results in a slight imbalance in the natural disposition of the mansion, it respects the placement of a central pavilion with three panels surmounted by a broken pediment bearing the arms of the owners.
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Its rich interiors made the Hôtel Matignon one of the most elegant and most frequented mansions of Paris. The wood panelling is the work ofMichel Lange, who had already decorated the Grand Salon of the Hôtel d'Évreux (today the Ambassadors' Salon of theÉlysée Palace). Thecornices and thestucco work are byJean-Martin Pelletier andJean Herpin. At the time, any "well-dressed" person was authorised by the owners to visit these splendors in their absence.
In 1731, the wife ofJacques de Matignon, daughter ofAnthony I Grimaldi, succeeded her father as head of the principality ofMonaco. In 1734, their son,Honoré III, mounted the throne. Although he was open to the revolutionary ideas of the time, he was imprisoned on 20 September 1793. At his liberation a year later, he was ruined and his property under seal. His sons obtained restitution, but they were obliged[clarification needed] to put the mansion up for sale in 1802.
It was eventually bought byAnne Éléonore Franchi. A professional dancer, she caught the eye, at theCarnival of Venice, ofKarl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg, who had three children by her. The Duke died in 1793, and finding herself inVienna and once more a dancer, she became the mistress ofJoseph II. The Empress,Maria Theresa, who had no love for her, had her expelled fromAustria. Exiled to theEast Indies, she returned to France in the company of the Scottish bankerQuentin Crawford. The two of them refurnished the Hôtel, which once again became a festive gathering place for theAncien Régime society and a hotbed of opposition. Close friends ofJoséphine de Beauharnais, the couple grew increasingly open in their criticism ofNapoleon after the divorce.
In 1808, the Hôtel Matignon passed into the hands of one of the best-known figures of the first half of the 19th century –Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, Prince ofBénévent andDeputy Great Elector. Four times a week, he gave dinners for 36 guests, prepared in his kitchens by the renowned Boucher. As the shrewd diplomat that he was, he held a great number of balls in honour of the imperial family. In 1811, Napoleon called on Talleyrand to reimburse the city ofHamburg the four millions it had paid him to avoid incorporation into the new Frenchdépartement of theBouches-de-l'Elbe. As the endeavour had failed, Talleyrand did not consider it necessary to return the sum. He was obliged to put the Hôtel up for sale; the Emperor had it purchased for 1,280 000 Francs, but Talleyrand never reimbursed Hamburg.
In 1815, at the start of theRestoration,Louis XVIII traded the Hôtel Matignon for theÉlysée Palace, which belonged toLouise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans, sister ofPhilippe-Égalité, and the separated wife of theDuc de Bourbon. She promptly installed a community ofnuns on the premises, charged with praying for the souls of victims of theFrench Revolution. Her niece inherited the property in 1822 and moved the community to the Rue de Picpus, so that she could rent out the Hôtel.
By the 1830's the Hotel was owned by Bathilde's niece, Adelaide d'Orleans. She rented it to a visiting wealthy American,Colonel Herman Thorn, who lived there with his large family for over a decade, and renovated it extensively. He was rumoured to have spent 1,000,000 francs on the upgrade.
Following the revolution of 1848, it was planned to place the Hôtel Matignon at the disposal of the head of the executive branch of thenew Republic. But ifGeneral Cavaignac chose to reside there until December 1848, the Prince President,Napoleon III, preferred the Élysée Palace.
A short time later, the Hôtel was sold to theDuke of Galliera,Raffaele de Ferrari, a member of theGenoese nobility and husband ofMarie de Brignole Sale, great-niece to the princess of Monaco. Together, they possessed one of the great fortunes of the time; it is claimed that they owned half of Genoa. Founder of theCrédit Mobilier, Raffaele financed many of the major construction projects of the second half of the 19th century – railroads in Austria, Latin America,Portugal and France (theParis-Lyon-Marseille line), the digging of theFréjus tunnel and theSuez Canal, and the Paris buildings designed byBaron Haussmann.
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Three years after the fall of Napoleon III in 1870, the Duchess proposed that theCount of Paris take up residence at the Rue de Varenne. He came to occupy the ground floor of the Hôtel Matignon. On 14 May 1886, this was the setting of one of the century's most sumptuous receptions – three thousand guests, the entire aristocracy of France, the diplomatic corps and numerous political figures thronged to celebrate the marriage ofPrincess Amélie, the Count's daughter, withCarlos, heir to thePortuguese throne. The story goes that, on the day of the reception, the President had a sudden desire to visit theBois de Boulogne but was unable to leave the Elysée because of the congested traffic. The following day, no doubt alarmed by such a large gathering of monarchists in the capital, the president of the council,Charles de Freycinet, called for a law exiling pretenders to the French throne. The next week, the legislation was passed.
The Duchess of Galliera was disenchanted and quit Paris, leaving her mansion to theAustro-Hungarian Emperor, who made it his embassy in France. But theFirst World War found the two countries on opposite sides and, confiscated in 1919, the Hôtel Matignon was declared "enemy property". On 21 November 1922, after prolonged negotiations, France once more assumed ownership. During World War I, the Hôtel was also the place where the philatelic collection ofPhilipp von Ferrary (the most valuable stamp collection ever assembled) was deposited when its owner, the son of theDuke of Galliera and an Austrian citizen, had to flee France in 1917. The collection was later broken up and sold by the French government after the war, as war reparations. In 1923, the Hôtel Matignon was designated as a historical monument by the state.[3][4]
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There were plans to turn the mansion into a museum – the property was to be subdivided and individual dwellings built, including the adjacent mansion built by the architect Jean Walter in 1924. However,Gaston Doumergue learned of the plans and decided to make it the headquarters of thePresident of the Council of Ministers (Président du Conseil), as the position ofhead of government was known under theThird Republic. The architectPaul Bigot took the necessary steps and, in 1935,Pierre Étienne Flandin became the first new occupant.
In 1936, the "Matignon Accords" were signed betweenLéon Blum and the leaders of the spring 1936 strikes, introducing the 40-hour work week and paid vacations.
Édouard Daladier, prime minister at the start of theSecond World War, did not leave his apartment near theArc de Triomphe and worked at theWar Ministry.[5] During the war the government moved to the city ofVichy, but on 21 August 1944, it was in Paris that the resistance leaderYvon Morandat and his future wife Claire seized the "Government Mansion", the Hôtel Matignon. In their haste they even confused Avenue Matignon, located on theRight Bank of theSeine, with the Hôtel Matignon, situated on theLeft Bank.
It was there that, on 25 August, GeneralCharles de Gaulle convened the "Provisory Council of the Republic". Subsequent presidents of the council followed his example and, his return in 1958, like the new republic, changed nothing more at Matignon than the occupant's name, which, instead of president of the council, became prime minister.
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