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Origin and history

The Hotel de Sourdeac, located at 8 rue Garancière in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, is a private hotel built in 1646 on the site of the former Hotel Garancière. Sponsored by René de Rieux, bishop-count of Leon in Brittany, this monument is distinguished by its facade wrongly attributed to an Italian architect named Robelini (in reality, the brothers Adam and Jacques Robelin, master masons). The colossal pilasters and their capitals adorned with ram heads, rare for the time, make it a remarkable architectural work. Upon the death of René de Rieux in 1651, the hotel passed to his nephew, Alexandre de Rieux, Marquis de Sourdéac, giving him his current name.

In the 18th century, the hotel became a major cultural place: in 1717, the actress Adrienne Lecouvreur gave her first public performance in the courtyard, under the aegis of the owner Françoise du Gué, widow of a president of the Chamber of Accounts. The hotel then changed hands several times, passing to the Marquise Catherine de La Chaise in 1720, then to her granddaughter Anne-Françoise de la Chaise d'Aix in 1732. Before the Revolution, he was praised by the bishop of Senlis, Jean-Armand de Bessuéjouls de Roquelaure, before being confiscated as a national good.

In the 19th century, the hotel houses the town hall of the 11th arrondissement (former division) between 1818 and 1850, then acquired in 1852 by the printer Henri Plon, close to Napoleon III. He then served as a seat at the Plon publishing house until 1988, while welcoming the Bisson Frères house. Ranked historic monument in 1928 for its facades on street and courtyard, the Hotel de Sourdeac embodies both the architectural fascist of the Grand Century and the cultural and political changes of Paris.

The hotel owes part of its fame to some praiseworthy descriptions, such as that of Jean-Aimar Piganiol de La Force in 1745, which underscores its "very remarkable" appearance despite a questionable "regularity". The engravings of Jean Marot and the confusion around the name of the architect (Robelin vs Bobelini) testify to his persistent aura. Today, there remains an emblematic example of Parisian private hotels, mixing aristocratic heritage, theatrical life and editorial history.

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