Location Paris, France Floor count 4 Floors 4 Architect Antoine Mazin | Completed 1722 Opened 1722 Construction started 1720 | |
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Address 39, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
75008 Paris, France Current tenants Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service Client Armand de Bethune, 2nd Duke of Charost and governor of Louis XV. Current tenant Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service Similar Hôtel de Boisgelin, Hôtel de Pontalba, Hôtel Beauharnais, Hôtel Perrinet de Jars, Hôtel de Massa | ||
Hôtel de Charost is a hôtel particulier located at 39 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. Since 1814, it has been the official residence of the ambassador of the United Kingdom to France. It is located near the Élysée Palace.
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Map of H%C3%B4tel de Charost, 75008 Paris, France
History
The hôtel was built in the 1720s for Armand de Bethune, 2nd Duke of Charost, a senior courtier of Louis XV. It was designed by Antoine Mazin, the king's own architect. The building was sited on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which was then a winding road that passed through fields and market gardens to the village of Roule on the outskirts of Paris.
After it had been an aristocratic home, the hôtel became the Embassy of Portugal, offices for the French home office (siège de bureaux), an Imperial Palace and the temporary residence of the Austrian ambassador.
In 1803, it was bought by Pauline Borghese, the sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1814, she sold the building to the Duke of Wellington who paid her in instalments of Louis d'or. Borghese passed the gold onto Napoleon, who had been exiled to Elba following the Treaty of Fontainebleau. His dramatic return that climaxed the next year at Waterloo was partly financed with the sale of this house to the British.