The Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre
Where is the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre? How to get thereWhen was the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre built? Why?
Description of Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre
Who are the architects of the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre? who commissioned it?
Who owns the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre today and what is its current use?
Summary return of the private mansions of the Marais
Where is the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre? How do I get there?
Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre is located at 82, rue François-Miron. The Hôtel's former garden is located at 7-9 rue de Fourcy.
Metro: Saint-Paul (line 1)
Bus: 96, Rue de Jouy stop.
The site is now occupied by the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP).
When was the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre built? Why was it built?
The Hôtel was built in 1704-1705 by architect Edme Fourier for financier François-Alphonse Hénault de Cantobre. For prestige, it's important to have your own Hôtel particulier. It was built on a narrow plot of land, presumably on the site of a former Du Guesclin property and a neighboring house known as l'Ecu de Pologne. Work was completed in 1707. On the death of the treasurer in 1737, his nephew Michel de Surirey de Saint-Rémy, who had been living there, became the owner, as he married his daughter-in-law. Under Louis-Philippe, the garden was occupied by a rolling mill. After its owner went bankrupt in 1741, the Hôtel was sold in 1746 to Augustin Gayet. In 1793, Edme Delaborne acquired the Hôtel, which remained in the same family until the 20th century.
Acquired by the City of Paris in 1943, the Hôtel underwent extensive restoration to house the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in 1995. In the former garden on rue de Fourcy, the Louis XIV carriage sheds were dismantled and had to be rebuilt. On part of the former garden, the City of Paris had a blockhouse-style extension built for the Maison Européenne de la Photographie.
Description of Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre:
The residence is a rarity in the neighborhood, as it is Louis XIV-period architecture. The elongated shape of the plot means that the courtyard and garden (typical of Parisian private mansions) are placed one after the other. On rue François Miron, the ashlar facade rests on three arcades, one of which contains the carriage entrance, which has retained its original leaves.
Above, the central balcony is supported by five stone brackets, the central one adorned with the head of a turbaned Moor. This large main building is continued at the rear by a wing overlooking the paved courtyard, which was separated from the rue de Fourcy by the carriage house, “dismantled” in 1993.
All that remains of the interior is the grand staircase with its original wrought-iron banister.
Who were the architects of the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre?
François-Alphonse Hénault de Cantobre was fermier général (treasurer) of the generality of Montauban. A financier, he should not be confused with his nephew, President Hénault, one of the most prominent men in the literary world in the 18th century. In 1704, the latter commissioned Edme Fourier, architect and contractor to the King's Buildings Department, to build a private mansion on the site of the houses he had purchased. In 1707, on completion of the work, he gave first-floor accommodation to his nephew Michel de Surirey de Saint-Rémy, a royal advisor, who shared the use of the property with him until his death in 1737. On that date, he became the full owner of the property. In the same year as his mother's death, 1703, he married Marie-Louise Vacherot, widow and daughter of Louis Vacherot, commissaire ordinaire de l'Artillerie and Catherine Le Camus. His mother-in-law, Catherine Le Camus, had married one of Michel's uncles, Françoise Alphonse Hénault de Cantobre, in a second marriage, so it's likely that the couple met through the family network. Heavily in debt and having married several daughters, which must have cost him a lot in dowry, he went bankrupt in 1741. In 1746, the Hôtel was sold to Augustin Gayet, King's Secretary to the Parliament of Pau. In 1793, Edme Delaborne acquired the Hôtel, which remained in the same family until the 20th century. In 1943, the Mairie de Paris acquired the Hôtel particulier and commissioned the Yves Lion architectural firm to enlarge and renovate it. The architect was chosen in a competition organized in 1990 by the City of Paris, on behalf of SAGI (Société d'Aménagement et de Gestion Immobilière), owner of the land adjoining the Hôtel, which required both renovation and new construction. Yves Lion wanted to take up the challenge of contemporary-ancient confrontation: “The best way to respect heritage is to bring it back to life. Looking at it as a museum piece and protecting it is tantamount to considering it dead, whereas this Hotel still has a good two or three centuries left in it.”
Who owns the Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre today, and what is its current use?
The Hôtel Hénault de Cantobre today belongs to the Mairie de Paris, which makes the building available to an association, "Paris Audiovisuel - Maison Européenne de la Photographie", founded in 1978 by Jacques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris, on the initiative of Henry Chapier. The [a href="https://en.maraisvisites.com/european-home-of-photography.htm">Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) is a photography exhibition center that opened in February 1996. It is run by the above-mentioned association.
Article written by Chloé Depras
Photo credit : Claire Cornic