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Origin and history

The hotel of Empress Eugénie, located at 2 rue de l'Elysée in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, was originally built in 1861 by architect Hector-Martin Lefuel for Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. Built on a plot of land for sale by Émile Pereire, this three-storey hotel, inspired by London's Georgian houses, was to serve as an intimate residence for the Empress, who sometimes housed her mother, the Countess of Montijo, or her friend Princess Anna Murat. After the fall of the Second Empire, the hotel was sold in 1878 to Maurice de Hirsch, a Bavarian financier based in Paris, who undertook important work to enlarge it and transform it into a sumptuous palace.

The Baron of Hirsch, dissatisfied with the initial size of the hotel, acquired the neighboring properties (notably Nos. 4, 6, and 8 of the rue de l'Elysée, as well as No. 24-26 Gabriel Avenue) to create a property complex of nearly half a hectare. Architects Peyre and Châtenay led the work, adding a festive hall capable of welcoming 2,000 guests, a monumental marble staircase of honor, and richly decorated living rooms (woodworks of Bercy Castle, tapestries of Beauvais, porcelains of Saxony). The hotel became a place of lavish receptions, reflecting the baron's luxurious lifestyle, until the tragic death of his only son, Lucien, in 1887, who ended his worldly life.

Upon the death of the Baron in 1896, the hotel passed to his widow, Baroness Clara de Hirsch, who lived there shortly before leaving the estate to her adoptive children. Several public projects (residence for Heads of State, Ministry of Colonies) failed due to urban planning constraints prohibiting commercial or professional use. In 1967, the French State acquired a part of the hotel (no. 2 rue de l'Elysée) to set up the Secretariat for African and Malagasy Affairs, now integrated into the Presidency of the Republic. The main body of the hotel, classified as a historic monument in 2002, preserves remarkable elements such as the dining room with rocky woodwork and the marble vestibule.

The architecture of the hotel combines neoclassical and eclectic influences, with interior decorations inspired by the great French castles (Versailles, Bercy). The stables, built on two levels with a horse lift, and the luxurious saddlery, bear witness to the fascist of the time. After the partial demolition of the building overlooking Gabriel Avenue in the 1960s, it remains today only the classified parts, including the original grids and the salons of 2 rue de l'Elysée. The hotel thus illustrates the evolution of Parisian private hotels, from the Second Empire to their institutional reallocation in the 20th century.

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