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Origin and history

The Hotel de Navarre is a former Parisian mansion located at 47-49 rue Saint-André-des-Arts in the 6th arrondissement. Originally, this site housed a home built in 1260 for Thibaut II of Navarre, king of Navarre, and then passed on to his heirs, including Jeanne Ire of Navarre and Louis X the Hutin. The hotel then became the residence of the Dukes of Orleans and the Dauphins of France, before being divided into two distinct properties in the seventeenth century: the Hotel de Vieuville (No. 47) and the Hotel de Châteauvieux (No. 49).

In 1640, the hotel of Navarre was split into two parts. No 49 was acquired by the Count of Châteauvieux, then by his son-in-law, the Marquis de la Vieuville, while no 47 became the Hotel de Vieuville. The facades, which had been rebuilt in 1728, had a Louis XV style marked by elegant ironwork, mascarons and rock motifs. The two hotels housed upper doors painted by François Boucher and were temporarily gathered in 1738 under the property of the Count of Villayer, before being separated again.

In the 18th century, these places became cultural and intellectual spaces. The Hôtel de Vieuville hosted the Salon de la Correspondance (1778-1787), an alternative to the official salons of the Louvre, where contemporary and ancient works were exhibited. Notary François Brichard, owner of the premises and client of artists like Quentin de La Tour, set up his study there in 1776. During the Revolution, Brichard, a member of the Cordeliers, was guillotined in 1794 for allegedly hiding emigrated funds. The buildings, listed as historic monuments in 1926 for their door and balcony, also housed the School of Psychology in 1910.

The architecture of the hotels blends elements of the eighteenth century, such as horizontal lines and rock motifs, with subsequent additions, including bay garlands and 19th century volutes. No. 49 retained a commemorative plaque recalling that Louis XII lived there before his arrival in 1484. The two properties, formerly linked to the nobility and the upper bourgeoisie, illustrate the evolution of urban uses, from aristocratic residences to places of culture, commerce (libraries) and education.

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