Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel de la Païva, built between 1856 and 1865 at 25 Avenue des Champs-Elysées, was commanded by Esther Lachman (1819–84), an adventurer of Polish origin who became Prussian Countess under the name of Païva. A symbol of her social ascension, she organized a great reception for personalities such as the Goncourt brothers, Théophile Gautier or Gambetta, despite her exclusion from traditional aristocratic circles. The architect Pierre Manguin designed a sumptuous building in Italian Renaissance style, with a hanging garden and a pharaonic cost of 10 million francs-gold, feeding Parisian chronicles.

The countess had the hotel decorated by the greatest artists of the time: the yellow onyx staircase (rare material rediscovered near Oran in 1849), the Moorish bathroom with a silver bronze bath inlaid with turquoises, and sculptures by Barrias, Dalou or Carrier-Belleuse. The ceiling of the large living room, painted by Paul Baudry, and the marble and bronze consoles (today at the Musée d'Orsay) showed his delight. In 1868, it began the construction of a similar castle in Silesia, the Neudeck Castle, which is now destroyed.

After the death of the Païva in 1884, the hotel remained closed for several years before being sold in 1893 to a Berlin banker. In 1903 it became the headquarters of the Travellers Club, which acquired it in 1923. Ranked a historic monument in 1980, it retains part of its original decor, although the court has been replaced by shops. Its history combines scandal, extreme luxury and exceptional architectural heritage.

The hotel is also known for its anecdotes, as the legend of its construction in front of the place where the young Paiva was allegedly thrown from a vehicle by a pressed lover. The newspapers of the time, like those of the Goncourt brothers, mocked his outrageous fascist, calling her "Ass Louvre". The construction site, which lasted ten years, covered the chronicle with its exorbitant cost and precious materials, such as the onyx used for the stairs or the malachite fireplace of the bedroom.

Among the outstanding remaining elements are the monumental bronze floor lamp, the statues of Dante, Petrarch and Virgil by Barrias (1865), and the painted medallions representing Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples. The bathroom, with its white onyx tub and silver bronze, inlaid with turquoises, illustrates the luxury Napoleon III. Cuba's mahogany bed, decorated with a mermaid and swans, was auctioned in 2006 after belonging to the Countess.

External links