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Origin and history

The former Patin café factory, located at 8 rue de Lévis in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, is a rare example of industrial architecture from the late 19th century. Built between 1885 and 1889 by Étienne Gillet, it combines a Eiffel-style metal structure, stone and brick facades, and eclectic decorations evoking coffee (ceramic beans, vegetable friezes). The roasting factory, accompanied by a private hotel and a store, replaced an old ballroom, the meeting room, a venue for political meetings in the 19th century.

The site has a marked social history: in 1840, the Patin cafés transformed the old cabaret room into a space for political meetings, welcoming figures such as Louise Michel, Gambetta or Victor Hugo. In 1884, an anarchist meeting was repressed by the police. The factory, which was active until the 1980s, was converted into apartments, while the shop was taken over by the Richard Counters. Its inscription in historical monuments in 2021 protects its facades, roofs and interior courtyard, highlighting its architectural and memorial heritage.

The Haussmann building on street, built in 1906 by Charles Gillet (son of Stephen), replaces the old structures and perpetuates the trade in coffee, chocolate and tea. The decoration includes floral motifs and references to coffee, such as carved windows of the private hotel or facade foothills. The factory, with its metal frame and glass windows, illustrates the technical innovation of the time, while its stylistic eclecticism reflects the tastes of the Parisian industrial bourgeoisie.

Before its industrial vocation, the site housed a giant cabaret (1810) capable of welcoming 5,000 people, then a major political meeting room under the Third Republic. The meeting room, located near the barrier of Monceaux, was a high place of Paris public life, frequented by famous speakers. Industrial Étienne Gillet, by installing his burning plant (1885), marked the transition to an industrial era, while maintaining a social and political dimension at the site.

The factory ceased operations in 1987, after a century of roasted coffee production. Its conversion to housing in the 1980s partially preserves its heritage, while the mention "CAFÉS E. PATIN, MY FEES IN 1840", still visible on the facade, recalls its past. Today, the site combines shops (including a coffee shop), homes and historical memory, embodying the urban and economic changes of Paris.

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