Hôtel Desmarets

Hôtel Desmarets stands in Paris as a historic hôtel particulier, built in the early eighteenth century by architect Pierre Cailleteau Lassurance. Its street portal, courtyard and main block align along one central axis, creating a symmetrical plan with two equal halves. Tall, narrow windows and classical orders on the central pavilions shape the street and garden elevations.

A paired vestibule and salon separate the principal apartments on either side, reflecting Lassurance’s preference for simplicity and convenience. Eighteenth-century alterations added a grand staircase with an ornate wrought-iron railing, while nineteenth-century reconstruction introduced a Renaissance-style staircase turret. The building also housed a prominent reading room in the early nineteenth century.

Look through the entrance and the architecture unfolds in sequence: portal, courtyard, main block. Inside, the wrought-iron stair railing preserves a particularly vivid detail from the building’s changing history.