Hôtel particulier

An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an ''hôtel particulier'' was often free-standing and, by the 18th century, would always be located ''entre cour et jardin'' – between the ''cour d'honneur'' (an entrance court) and the garden behind. There are ''hôtels particuliers'' in many large cities in France.

Etymology and meaning

The word ''hôtel'' represents the Old French "hostel" from the Latin ''hospitālis'' "pertaining to guests", from ''hospes'', a stranger, thus a guest.Cassell's Latin Dictionary The adjective ''particulier'' means "personal" or "private".

The English word ''hotel'' developed a more specific meaning as a commercial building accommodating travellers; modern French also uses ''hôtel'' in this sense. For example, the Hôtel de Crillon on the Place de la Concorde was built as an ''hôtel particulier'' and is today a public hotel.

In French, an ''hôtel de ville'' or ''mairie'' is a town hall and not a hotel. Other official bodies might give their name to the structure in which they maintained a seat: aside from Paris, several other French cities have an Hôtel de Cluny, maintained by the abbey of Cluny. The Hôtel de Sens was built as the Paris residence of the archbishop of Sens. The Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris was a theatre, taking its name from the former Paris residence of the Dukes of Burgundy on the site. The Hôtel de la Marine, now a museum, took its name when it was the naval ministry building.

''Hôtel-Dieu'' ("hostel of God") is the old name given to the principal hospital in French towns (and those in Quebec), such as the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune. The Hôtel des Invalides in Paris retains its early sense of a hospital for war wounded.

Examples

In

Aix-en-Provence

In Beaucaire

In

Blois

In

Bordeaux

In

Paris

In

Rennes

In

Toulouse

In

Vesoul

Gallery

File:Hotel-Guenegaud-rue-des-Art.jpg, Hôtel de Guénégaud in Paris.
File:Roubaix hotel.jpg, Hôtel Prouvost in Roubaix, France.
File:Aix-Hôtel de Caumont-bjs180814-02.jpg, Hôtel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence.
File:Bachelier - Hôtel d'Assézat - Toulouse - La cour d'honneur.jpg, Hôtel d'Assézat in Toulouse.
File:P1020669 Paris III Hôtel de Saint-Aignan Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaisme rwk.JPG, Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in Paris.
File:Hôtel Dahus Toulouse.jpg, Hôtel Dahus in Toulouse.
File:026 - Hôtel de ville Place Pey-Berland - Bordeaux.jpg, Palais Rohan, in Bordeaux.
File:Hôtel de Lalande - Musée des arts décoratifs et du design de Bordeaux.jpg, Hôtel de Lalande, in Bordeaux.

See also

* List of hôtels particuliers in Paris
*''Domus''
*Château
*Mansion
*Single-family detached home

References

Further reading

*Monographs have been published on some outstanding Parisian ''hôtels particuliers''.
*The classic photographic survey, now a rare book found only in large art libraries, is the series ''Les Vieux Hotels de Paris'' by J. Vacquer, published in the teens and twenties of the 20th century, which takes Paris quarter by quarter and which illustrates many ''hôtels particuliers'' that were demolished during the 20th century.
*Blanc, Olivier, ''Hôtels particuliers de Paris'' (1998)
*Caylux, Odile et al. ''Les Hôtels particuliers d'Arles'' (2000)
*Coquery, Natacha, ''L’hôtel aristocratique. Le marché du luxe à Paris au XVIII^e siècle,'' Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1998
*Courtin, Nicolas, ''L'Art d'habiter à Paris au XVII^e siècle : L'ameublement des hôtels particuliers'', Paris, Faton, 2011
*Cros, Philippe,''Hôtels particuliers de France'' (2001)
*Gady, Alexandre, ''Les'' ''Hôtels particuliers de Paris, du Moyen-Âge à la Belle époque'', Paris, Parigramme, 2007
*Naudin, Jean-Baptiste et al., ''Hôtels particuliers de Paris: Visite privée'' (1999).
*Papillault, Remi ''Les hôtels particuliers du XVIe siècle à Toulouse (Serie Memoires des pays d'Oc)
*Favreau, Bertrand, ''Une promenade dans Bordeaux, les hôtels parlementaires'', B550B, Mérignac, 2012, .

External links

Les Vieux Hotels de Paris, Le Faubourg Saint-Germain
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.

Les Vieux Hotels de Paris, Le Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.

Les Vieux Hotels de Paris, Le Ministère de la Marine
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.

Les Vieux Hotels de Paris, Le Quartier Saint-Paul
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.

Les Vieux Hotels de Paris, Le Temple et le Marais
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Particulier
House types