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The Hôtel de Besenval is a historic hôtel particulier in Paris with a cour d'honneur and a large English landscape garden, an architectural style commonly known as entre cour et jardin – meaning a residence between the courtyard in front of the building and the garden behind it. The building is listed as a historical monument by decree of 20 October 1928. It houses the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation and the residence of the Swiss ambassador to France since 1938. The residence is named after its most famous former owner, Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt. "The Hôtel de Besenval, the beautiful Swiss embassy in Paris." Location The premises are at 142 Rue de Grenelle in the district of Faubourg Saint-Germain in the 7th arrondissement, opposite the Hôtel du Châtelet and close to the Hôtel des Invalides. The gold of the Republic The Faubourg Saint-Germain has long been known as the favourite home of the French nobility and hosts numerous aristocratic hôtels particuliers. Many of these residences later became foreign embassies and ambassadorial residences or administrative headquarters of the City of Paris or seats of ministries of France. This was also a consequence of the French Revolution, when many of these hôtels particuliers, offering large reception rooms and exquisite decoration, were confiscated and turned into national institutions. The French expression Les ors de la République (The gold of the Republic), referring to the luxurious environment of the national palaces, official residences and institutions like the Palais de l'Élysée, the Hôtel de Matignon or the Palais du Luxembourg, comes from that time. The Hôtel de Besenval was one of the few hôtels particuliers that was not confiscated because its then owner, Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, was a Swiss citizen. From the Marais to the Faubourg Saint-Germain In the early 18th century, the French nobility started to move from the Marais, the then aristocratic district of Paris where nobles used to build their hotels particuliers, to the clearer, less populated and less polluted Faubourg Saint-Germain; an area which soon became the new residential area of France's highest ranking nobility. Families like those of the Duc d’Estrées, the Duc du Châtelet or the Duc de Noirmoutier moved there. Their former residences still bear their names today. Therefore, the instinct of the early investors was right when they bought at the beginning of the 18th century their plots of land on what would soon become one of the best addresses in Paris: The Rue de Grenelle. History Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour The origins of the Hôtel de Besenval go back to a single-floor residence, the Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, erected in 1704 for a man of the Church: Pierre Chanac Hélie de Pompadour, Baron de Treignac, Abbé de Vigeois, Prieur de La Valette and Prévost d'Arnac († 1710). When the construction work began, the abbé was already in his eighties. It is believed that the abbé was a descendant of the family of Guillaume V de Chanac and Guillaume de Chanac. For the design of his new residence, the abbé commissioned the celebrated architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair. Delamair, in turn, commissioned the building contractor Guillaume Delavergne († 1710) to carry out his plans for the hôtel particulier, with the total cost estimated at 31,000 livres. Additional costs of 11,953 livres and 7 sols were added later. This sum was set on 19 March 1710 by a commission of experts after a site visit, as the relationship between the people involved in the construction was no longer the best at that time due to disputes. Pierre-Alexis Delamair was very much in demand at the time. It was the same time when he was involved in two other major building projects in Paris: The remodeling of the Hôtel de Clisson, lately known as the Hôtel de Guise, for François de Rohan, Prince de Soubise, which consequently became the Hôtel de Soubise and the construction of the Hôtel de Rohan for Armand Gaston Maximilien, Prince de Rohan. Pierre-Alexis Delamair's one-off project The Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour is a special feature in Delamair's work, as it is the only single-floor hôtel particulier he ever designed. With the Hôtel Chanac de Pompaodur, Delamair also set new standards in façade architecture. The sober, linear neoclassical façade was a novelty and a contrast to the ornate façades that had prevailed up to that point. Architects, who later made changes to the building, always respected Delamair's basic structure and design. In his book titled: Description de la ville de Paris et de tout ce qu’elle contient de plus remarquable (Description of the City of Paris and all that what it contains most remarkable), first published in 1684 and expanded in later editions, Germain Brice describes the Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour as a pleasant place. However, he also states: "Abbé Pierre Chanac de Pompadour built a house decorated with numerous vases and figures placed in different places [the free-standing figures and vases on the roof cornice of the building]. Those who love the abundance of ornaments will like this. However, it is the clever arrangement of decorations what makes a building beautiful." But then Brice praises: "The apartments enjoy an advantageous view and the house, actually built in a rather light way, does not fail to provide several amenities which make the residence pleasant." Although Jacques-François Blondel was not overly enthusiastic, he nevertheless found words of praise for the work of Pierre-Alexis Delamair in his 1752 publication on French architecture. In his widely acclaimed standard work, Blondel points out that at the Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour the kitchen is no longer housed in the corps de logis but in a side wing to the left (west wing). An architectural arrangement that Blondel describes as an innovation. This architectural innovation had two pleasant side effects: On the one hand, it kept the kitchen odors away from the state rooms and, on the other hand, it reduced the risk of fire in the corps de logis. In addition to the kitchen, Delamair also combined the other utility rooms in the west wing, such as the servant's quarters. Furthermore, Blondel praises the generally clever room layout of the house, especially of the corps de logis, which he says can be traced back to the cleverly arranged enfilades. By this he means, on the one hand, the enfilade that connects the main entrance, the vestibule and the Sallon servant de salle à manger (F) and ultimately leads to the garden (south to north) and, on the other hand, the enfilade that connects the three state rooms, the Sallon servant de salle à manger (F), the Chambre de parade (D) and the Grand cabinet (E) (west to east). The two enfilades intersect in the Sallon servant de salle à manger (F), which is now called the Salon des perroquets. Around the so-called basse-cour (the small courtyard) on the east side of the cour d'honneur, Delamair grouped the stables, .... Discover the J J Fiechter popular books. Find the top 100 most popular J J Fiechter books.