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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building, located at the 14 quai de la Mégisserie, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, was erected in 1864 by architect Henri Blondel on land transferred by the City during the regularization of the wharf. This project is part of the urban transformations of the Second Empire, with an angled façade opening onto the wharf, Bertin-Poiré Street and Saint-Germain-l-Auxerrois Street. The building, designed to house the agency and the apartment of Blondel (until 1893), is distinguished by its cariatide porch carved by Auguste Millet, its inner passage and its vestibule decorated with ancient columns and medallions.

The structure consists of two basement levels, three square floors, one broken floor and one attic. Blondel's apartment, on the first floor, retains an exceptional original decoration: gilded stucco, painted door tops and ground cornices. In 1866, a building of communes (remises and stables) was added to the backyard. The building, sold in 1890, sees certain elements protected by decree in 1999, including the cochère door, the passageway, the vestibule and rooms of the old apartment.

The architecture combines classic references and urban functionality, illustrating the know-how of Blondel, trained at the School of Fine Arts. The ancient cariatids of Millet highlight the aesthetic ambition of the project. The location on the Quai de la Mégisserie, historical for its artisanal activities (megisserie, crèchesseries), strengthens its anchor in the Haussmannian Paris, between modernity and heritage.

Ranked a Historical Monument for its most remarkable parts, the building bears witness to the Parisian changes under Napoleon III. The 1999 protection also concerns the small living room, dining room and office of Blondel, with its integrated basin. These spaces, preserved in their original state, offer a rare example of bourgeois housing linked to the profession of architect in the nineteenth century.

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