Hôtel Lambert

The Hôtel Lambert (French: [otɛl lɑ̃bɛːʁ]) is an hôtel particulier, a grand mansion townhouse, built between 1640 and 1644 on the Quai Anjou on the eastern tip of the Île Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. In the 19th century, the name Hôtel Lambert also came to designate a political faction of Polish exiles associated with Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, who had purchased the Hôtel Lambert.

The house, on an irregular site at the tip of the Île Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris, was designed by

The entrance gives onto the central square courtyard, around which the hôtel was built. A wing extends to the right at the rear, embracing a walled garden. At the same time, Louis Le Vau constructed a residence for himself adjacent to the Hôtel Lambert. He lived there between 1642 and 1650. It was where all of his children were born and his mother died. After the architect's own death in 1670, his hôtel was bought by the La Haye family, who owned the other residence as well. Both buildings were then joined and their façades combined.

Both painters worked on the internal decoration for almost five years, producing the gallant allegories of Le Brun's grand Galerie d'Hercule (still in situ, but heavily damaged in the 2013 fire described below) and the small Cabinet des Muses, with five canvases by Le Sueur that were purchased for the royal collection (now in the

In 1843, the hôtel particulier was bought by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, member of the powerful family of Polish magnates. He and his brother, Konstanty Adam, were leaders of the liberal aristocratic faction of the Great Emigration from Poland, following the collapse of the November Uprising of 1830–1831. A political group formed around Adam Czartoryski, and his palatial residence in central Paris, surrounded by the natural 'moat' of the river Seine, lent its name to his political faction.

The political beliefs of the Hôtel Lambert faction were derived from the

In 1975, the Czartoryski heirs sold the Hôtel Lambert to Baron Guy de Rothschild, whose wife, Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, was a close friend of de Redé; they used it as their Paris residence.

In September 2007, the Hôtel Lambert was sold by the Rothschilds to

The Prince's plan for a comprehensive overhaul of the building sparked controversy and became the subject of legal action brought by French conservationists.^[5] The scheme included plans to install air-conditioning, elevators, an underground car park with an exit through the notable curved garden wall, and a number of security measures. This involved digging under the garden and raising the 17th-century garden wall 80 cm. One heritage architect claimed the plans had "the aesthetics of a James Bond villa".^[6] Former tenant Michèle Morgan suggested that super-rich clients wanting a tailor-made luxury modern residence should consider a larger site on the outskirts of Paris rather than a cramped position limited on all sides by the river Seine and listed monuments. However, Alain-Charles Perrot, the architect in charge of the project, suggested that there was an element of racism in the objections.^{[7][n 2]}

After several years of wrangling, a truce was overseen by the Ministry of Culture and Paris City Hall, and the renovation was given the go-ahead under the supervision of Bâtiments de France, which safeguards historic monuments. Work began in 2010.^[8]

On 10 July 2013 a portion of the building was severely damaged by a fire which started in the roof during renovation work.^[9] The Cabinet des Bains with a series of ceiling frescoes by Eustache Le Sueur was completely destroyed, and another series of frescoes by Charles Le Brun in the Gallery of Hercules was heavily damaged by smoke and water.^[10] The restoration and renovation took a further three years.

• Fire damage of July 2013
• 
  Upper court facade and roof
• 
  A portion of the damaged roof on the east side of the court
• 
  East end of the Gallery of Hercules and the floor above

The restoration by Al Thani eventually cost €120m (£100m); the restored house showcasing a collection of French art and decorative works of the highest quality. These were sent to auction in a series of sales in 2022.^[11]

In 2022, the house was sold to French telecom billionaire and art collector Xavier Niel for more than €200 million ($226 million) to be reportedly used as the headquarters for Niel's cultural foundation.^[12]

• Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé
• Great Emigration (Wielka Emigracja)
• Union of National Unity (Związek Jedności Narodowej)
• Rothschild family