An Exclusive Tour of France’s Opulent Presidential Residences

TravelAn Exclusive Tour of France’s Opulent Presidential ResidencesFrom the Élysée Palace in Paris to the Lantern Pavilion in Versailles, each residence has its own luxurious appeal  January 21, 2022inside of a palaceÉlysée Palace’s portrait room is used for casual meals with the president’s close friends and family members.Photo: Ambroise Tézenas

More often than not, guests have no shame when it comes to asking their hosts for a home tour—whether it be for a weekend stay or a low-key dinner party. And the residents of the home in question generally respond to “Can I have a tour?” with “Follow me!” That said, requesting a tour of someone’s intimate quarters is a custom to which more than one international peoples—especially the French—don’t exactly adhere. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Francophiles aren’t curious about their friends’ spaces; they just won’t admit it. And luckily, they don’t have to. Flammarion’s recently released Presidential Residences in France—written by art historian, Academie des Beaux-Arts member, and acclaimed novelist Adrian Goetz, and photographed by legendary interiors photographer Ambroise Tézenas—offers an insider glimpse into the three presidential residences of France: the Élysée Palace (and its neighboring Hôtel de Marigny), the Lantern Pavilion (in the park of Versailles), and Brégançon Fort.

inside a palace

During François Mitterrand’s presidency, 10 French windows with views of the grounds were installed in Élysée’s grand ballroom to offer the space a bit more natural light.

Photo: Ambroise Tézenas

With 300 photographs spread across 320 pages, this new tome visually explains the deeply rooted connection between fine arts and decorative crafts. Everything the French consider paramount when decorating centuries-old residences is on display within the 9.5-by-12-inch covers. Aside from their tender steak au poivre, crisp Champagne, and effortlessly cool fashion, the French are famous for their lavishly decorated palaces, and this book proves it.

Élysée Palace, designed by Armand-Claude Mollet, was originally built for the Count of Évreux between 1718 and 1722 on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. It changed hands several times—most notably belonging to King Louis XV’s mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour in 1753—before finally becoming the president’s residence in Paris, the result of the 1848 Revolution when the Second Republic was formed. The first president to call Élysée Palace home was the newly elected President of the Republic, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Emperor Napoleon I.

inside of a home with chairs and fireplace

In Élysée Palace, Princess Eugénie’s private apartment houses what’s known today as the Mirror Room. When the princess used this space as her bathroom, she enlisted Jean-Louis Godon to decorate it in splendor. 

Photo: Ambroise Tézenas

As one can imagine, the palace is enormous, to say the least. The most beloved spaces include the Vestibule d’Honneur (the grand entrance hall), Jardin d’Hiver (the splendid winter garden), and, of course, the famed Salle des Fêtes (ballroom), among countless others. And Presidential Residences in France invites readers to take a peek at the palace’s recent restoration and new furnishings courtesy of France’s National Furniture Depository. Though it’s been imbued with a slightly more contemporary spirit throughout its numerous rooms, Élysée Palace is still very much aesthetically connected to the other presidential palaces, including La Lanterne.

outside palace with grass and trees

The central façade of La Lanterne at Versailles was originally a three-room hunting lodge.

Photo: Ambroise Tézenas

Known as one of France’s best-hidden estates, the Baroque-style Lanterne, which is named for its exceptional brightness courtesy of the 35 French doors that invited sunlight inside, is nestled deep within the forests of the Château de Versailles. It was built in 1760 as nothing more than a modest hunting lodge with just three rooms for Count Philippe de Noailles, governor of Versailles and captain of the king’s hunts. Two decades later, his son extended the lodge significantly, adding on enough rooms for both him and his family, and, during the Second World War, for the Germans to move in. It wasn’t until 1959 when, at President Charles de Gaulle’s request, La Lanterne became a secondary residence of the prime minister, which it still remains.

Unlike the former presidential palaces, the Fort of Bregançon’s story is a bit more tumultuous. First, in the Middle Ages, it was a fortified seigneurial residence under the authority of the counts of Provence. And in 1246, it was inducted into the Crown’s estate after the marriage of Béatrix de Provence and Charles d’Anjou, who was King Louis IX’s brother. It remained in the family for a few hundred years until the beginning of the 16th century, when the palace took on a purely military purpose. Bonaparte further enforced its military power with 23 cannons. In 1924, though, after the First World War came to a close, the fort was thankfully decommissioned as a military site and listed as a picturesque one.

island in the sea

A bit more rustic than its palatial counterparts, Fort of Bregançon resides on a rocky promontory nearly 100 feet above the sea. Back when it was used as a military fortress, Fort of Bregançon was a strategic residence for the French.

Photo: Ambroise Tézenas

The government leased it to anyone who wanted to move in, and French industrialist and political activist Robert Bellanger wasted no time, moving in and immediately embarking on quite a major renovation. Unfortunately, however, during the Second World War, the beautifully restored fort fell into German hands, and Bellanger fled his home until the war’s end. Fortunately, the fort and the island on which it resides were both listed as historical monuments in 1968 and boasted the coveted status of presidential residence.

Each of the storied presidential palaces is different in its own rights, but they’re connected in their history and elegance. Not to mention the country’s most powerful figures that have sipped espresso, noshed on croissants, and hosted soirées in its double-height ballrooms. The 320 pages reveal these deliciously sumptuous spaces to any aspiring Francophile with an affinity for interiors.

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Originally posted on: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/exclusive-tour-frances-opulent-presidential-residences