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Origin and history

The Château de la Petite Malmaison, located in Rueil-Malmaison (Hautes-de-Seine), was built between 1803 and 1805 for Empress Joséphine, owner of the nearby Malmaison estate. Designed as a reception pavilion adjacent to a large pioneering hot greenhouse – the first large glass structure in France – it housed lounges luxuriously decorated by renowned craftsmen such as Jacob-Desmalter and the marbrier Gilet. The park, treated in English by Louis-Martin Berthault, completed this imperial ensemble.

The greenhouse, divided into two sections (a heated area for exotic plants and a reception building), was 50 metres long. It was dismantled in 1827 because of its maintenance cost. The pavilion, rebuilt by its successive owners, lost its greenhouses but preserved original decorative elements, such as parquet floors and casts of antique marbles. The estate changed hands several times, including the Swedish banker Jonas-Philip Hagerman (1828) and Count Pascal de Bourbon-Siciles (1887), an Italian exile.

In the 20th century, the Petite Malmaison was acquired by the Czarnecki family, a Polish aristocrats fleeing communism. The castle, classified as Historical Monument in 1995, preserves traces of its lavish past: facades adorned with copies of spoliated ancient sculptures (such as the bust of Agrippa or the Antinous of the Capitol), a musical salon decorated with moulds of the marbles of the Parthenon, and a park with a piece of water. The architectural changes (closing, adding windows) reflect its adaptation to a private residence.

Among the notable works are a painting by Jean-Jacques Hauer representing the presentation of the badges of the Legion of Honour (1804), as well as furniture stamped Jacob-Desmalter. The façade features copied bas-reliefs from the Hôtel de Salm in Paris, while the music salon exhibits seven casts from the western frieze of the Parthenon, made in Athens before 1787. These elements testify to Josephine's taste for ancient art and Napoleonic spoliations.

The estate, originally linked to Malmaison Castle, was distributed in the 19th century, separating the two properties. Today, the Petite Malmaison remains a rare example of preserved imperial architecture, mixing Napoleonian heritage, private transformations and artistic treasures. Its park, planted with cedars and chestnut trees, preserves traces of an old French garden, while the central fountain is adorned with a squatting Venus, a copy of a Vatican work.

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