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Origin and history

The hotel Veron, also known as the castle of Auteuil, is a private hotel located in 16th arrondissement of Paris. Its origin dates back to the early eighteenth century, when Marie Veron, widow of a wealthy merchant, acquired in 1714 a property of 3,800 m2 in Auteuil, then a peripheral village. His son, Louis-Henri Veron, the king's secretary, built a neo-classical hotel there around 1756-1770, replacing an old house called "enclosed du Buc". The initials of the farmer general Antoine Chardon, who bought in 1777, still adorn the garden side.

During the Revolution, the hotel escapes destruction and is rented in 1800 to Pierre Pérignon, a politician who organizes a salon frequented by the elite of the Consulate. Two engravings by Berthault and paintings by Hubert Robert, today at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, bear witness to this fascinating time. It is here that Caroline Dufaÿs, future mother of Charles Baudelaire, resided before her marriage in 1819 with Joseph-François Baudelaire, 34 years old his eldest.

In the 19th century, the hotel passed into the hands of the Chardon-Lagache family, which founded a nearby retirement home in 1857. The estate, then vast (potagers, greenhouses, water room), was fragmented after 1879 by the Marquis de Casa-Riera, which traced Leconte-de-Lisle and Mignet streets. The hotel then houses a boarding school for young girls before being transferred in 1957 to the Homes of Auteuil. Ranked partially in 1980, it retains a facade adorned with colossal pilasters and a Louis XV portal reported from Lorraine.

The facade on street, courtyard and garden, as well as the vestibule, wrought iron staircase and lounges (with their decorations) have been protected since 1980. The park, gradually reduced in the 20th century, lost part of its tarred lawn in the 1960s. A project to demolish the abandoned vanguard would have altered its neo-classical harmony. Today, the hotel houses a kindergarten (Saint-Jean-de-Passy) and a parish centre, perpetuating its local anchor.

The remarkable architectural elements include four colossal-order canned pilasters, garlands under the balconies, and a triangular pediment. On the street side, the gate is framed by two pavilions connected by a terrace, while a Louis XV facade, transplanted stone by stone from the Nancy region, adorns the left wall of the courtyard. These details, taken up by the historian Jacques Hillairet, underline the eclecticism of the monument, between aristocratic heritage and modern adaptations.

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