Did you know that there are more than 400 private mansions in Paris? Mostly used for ministries, embassies or museums, very few are still accessible and quite often they have nothing to do with their original function. This is not the case of the magnificent Hotel de la Païva whose first owner had an exceptional destiny.
The tour begins with the analysis of the exterior architecture of this building dating back to 1865, located at 25 Avenue of the Champs Elysées (where many other private mansions were installed in the 17th century but are today replaced by 19th century commercial buildings): the front facade is Neo-Renaissance and a typical eclecticism of the second Empire with a skillful mix of materials, motifs and influences....
A very expensive style for the time: in comparison, the mansion cost half the price of the Opera Garnier built 10 years later!
But the owner of the place, a Russian adventuress of modest origin who became a Portuguese Marquise and then a Prussian Countess, was not looking to spend money.
Having become a multimillionaire, her hotel illustrates her revenge: pushed out of the car by a client when she was a courtesan, she had promised herself to have "the most beautiful house in Paris" built opposite the place where she had fallen.
After her second divorce, she lived a great passion with Count Henckel Von Donnersmarck. As he was the cousin of Captain Bismarck, she was suspected of being a spy during the war against Prussia and was exiled to Poland in 1882 where she died two years later at the age of 65.
The fate of an incredible woman, a pioneer of feminism that leaves us today a beautiful legacy of the art of living in the 19th century. Such a pity that the current owner of the premises, the Traveler’s club, doesn't fit into the culture of female emancipation, by limiting its membership... to men only!
To visit : Hotel Païva
Want to know more about the Marquise de Païva : the Marquise de Païva
Valérie from Comme des Français
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To discover other little-known places in Paris:
