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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel de la Superintendence, located at 9 rue de l'Indépendance-Américaine in Versailles, was originally built under Louis XIV to house the Superintendence of the King's Buildings and the Cabinet des Tableaux. Built between 1686 and 1692 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, it became the main storage place for royal collections, including paintings, before being expanded between 1699 and 1702 to accommodate more works. This building played a key role in the management of the arts under the Ancien Régime, centralizing works from Paris, Fontainebleau and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Under Louis XV, the hotel partially opened its collections to the public, but their congestion led to their gradual transfer to the Louvre from 1750 onwards, marking the creation of the first French museum. In 1789, the Revolution accelerated this transfer, and the Cabinet of Tables ceased to exist in 1794. The building, abandoned, was restored under the Restoration for the services of the King's Buildings, before being transformed into a Minor Seminary in 1834, then into a military barracks (Vauban Box) from 1907 to 1995.

Ranked a Historical Monument in 1929, the hotel was rehabilitated in the 21st century: the wing of the Orangerie became a student residence in 2014, while the main body, restored by the society History & Heritage, has been home to a standing condominium since 2017. This work, conducted under the direction of architects of the Historical Monuments, preserved its architectural heritage, while offering it a new residential vocation.

The hotel is distinguished by its history of arts and royal administration, as well as its characteristic architecture, marked by the successive extensions of Hardouin-Mansart and Gabriel. Its neighbourhood with the Grand Control Hotel, on the other side of the street, underlines its importance in Versaillais urban planning. Today, it embodies the successful rehabilitation of a major historical heritage.

The collections he housed, including works by Leonardo da Vinci such as La Monande and Sainte-Anne, were inventoried until 1784 before they were dispersed. The descriptions of the time, like those of Étienne La Font de Saint-Yenne in 1747, criticized their precarious conservation. These testimonies illustrate the evolution of museum practices, from royal reserves to the opening to the public under Louis XV.

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