Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Rose Palace, located at 12 Diderot Street in Vesinet (Yvelines), was built between 1899 and 1900 for the shipowner Arthur Schweitzer. Inspired by the Grand Trianon of Versailles, this rectangular one-storey building, with its wings and pink marble parron, was designed as a luxurious mansion. Schweitzer, ruined, sold it in 1906 to Ratanji Tata, who gave it two years later without ever occupying it.

In 1908 the poet Robert de Montesquiou, fascinated by the place, acquired and nicknamed him "Palace Rose". He was an eclectic collector, and he held a great reception and installed his works of art there, as well as setting up the park with statues of poets and a "Flag of Love" with a pink marble basin. He also had the Hermitage built for his library. When he died in 1921, his secretary Henry Pinard sold furniture and property.

The marquise Luisa Casati, eccentric and passionate about animals, bought the palace in 1923. She set up a winter garden there for her snakes and organized memorable parties, such as dinners lit by her necklace. Ruined, she had to abandon the estate in 1934. The property was then batched, and the palace changed hands several times, including those of Olivier Scive, who tried to reconstruct the original estate.

During the Second World War, General de Gaulle briefly stayed there in May 1940. In the 1980s, the Blumental-Leroy couple bought and renovated the palace with architect Jean-Louis Cardin, changing the facades and interior. Finally, in 1999, Emad Khashoggi undertook a major renovation for the SCI Palais Rose, adding a basement with swimming pool and cinema, while preserving the classified elements.

Ranked as a historical monument in 1986, the Rose Palace inspired literary works, such as La Cagliostro avenges from Arsène Lupin, and appeared in the cinema in Visitors 2 (1998). Its architecture, blending Veraillais heritage and personal touches of its owners, makes it a symbol of the eccentricity and luxury of the Belle Époque.

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