A Seventeenth Century Hôtel Becomes a Twelve Room Sanctuary

Beneath the slate roofs and pink brick façades of Place des Vosges, a quiet revolution unfolds at number nineteen. Cour des Vosges, a new twelve room hotel within the 17th century Hôtel de Montbrun, emerges as an act of careful restoration and deliberate curation, where the accumulated taste of a connoisseur’s home takes precedence over the conventional language of hospitality.

Architects Yann Lecoadic and Alessandro Scotto approached the interiors as custodians rather than designers. The building’s original painted wooden beams, terracotta floors, double doors and succession of interconnecting drawing rooms remain intact, their proportions commanding and undiminished. On the first floor, ceilings rise to five metres, revealing an architectural generosity that speaks to the mansion’s former dignity. Yet rather than preserve in amber, the architects introduced furnishings that recall the 1970s, allowing a later aesthetic to converse with the grandeur of the Louis XIII era. Candelabra inspired lamps stand beside stainless steel tables. Azure tapestries punctuate rooms with terracotta floors. Statues sit alongside lacquered screens, and the four poster bed becomes a contemporary interpretation of its historic self.

Amélie du Chalard, founder of Maison d’art, selected and arranged the hotel’s artworks with the precision of someone building a personal collection. Paintings hang beside beds. Sculptures occupy windows overlooking the gardens. The works feel discovered rather than curated, gathered as an art loving family might gather them over generations. Alongside, Anatole Desachy, a noted collector of rare books specialising in photography, has placed his acquisitions throughout the rooms and suites. Photographers’ monographs and writings from around the world invite guests to browse at leisure, as one might in a beloved library.

The square itself remains the true subject. From upper floor windows, views rise to treetops and Parisian rooftops, while the surrounding buildings frame Square Louis XIII in perpetual conversation. Victor Hugo’s house stands nearby. The Musée Carnavalet and the Musée national Picasso Paris are minutes away, their collections enriching the neighbourhood’s cultural fabric. Contemporary galleries work alongside historic mansions and writers’ homes.

Cour des Vosges operates as part of Evok Collection, the group that since 2014 has developed properties rooted in cultural sensitivity and human connection. A stay here is less a night away than an inhabitation of Parisian history, where the objects surrounding you and the light falling across terracotta floors become the experience itself.

Imagery courtesy of Cour des Vosges.