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Origin and history

The Chenizot hotel is a private hotel located on the island of Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. Acquired in 1719 by Jean-François Guyot de Chenizot, Receiver General of Finance in Rouen, he was transformed by architect Pierre Vigné de Vigny, who added a balcony and decorated the facades. This early 18th-century building replaces an older 17th-century home, and illustrates the refined civil architecture of that time.

In 1840, after the riots of 1831 that damaged the archdiocese of Paris, the state rented the hotel to install Archbishop Denys Affre. He died there in 1848 after being wounded on the revolutionary days of June. His successor, Marie Dominique Auguste Sibour, left in 1849 to settle on rue de Grenelle. The hotel then served, from 1850 onwards, as staff for the 1st Legion of Gendarmerie until 1862.

The garden was sold in 1863, and the hotel became a private residence, including the metaphysicist René Guénon from 1904 to 1930. Ranked a Historic Monument in 2002 for its facades, roofs, stairs and courtyards, it underwent a major renovation completed in 2013. The second court preserves traces of light industrial activities of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as workshops for the manufacture of frames of the day.

Among the personalities related to the hotel were Madame Tallien, who lived there with her first husband from 1788 to 1793, as well as the archaeologist Felix de Pachtère, born in the building in 1881. The sundial of the courtyard recalls that of the hotel of Lauzun, another emblematic hotel on the island of Saint-Louis.

The protected elements include facades, roofs, stairs and the floor of both courtyards. Architect Pierre de Vigny, ironmaker Nicolas Viennot and sculptor François Roumier contributed to his embellishment. Today, the hotel remains a testimony of Parisian history, mixing architectural, religious and military heritage.

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