11, rue Berryer [Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild], Paris, France

Adèle, Baroness Salomon James de Rothschild (née von Rothschild) (1843-1922) built the hôtel particulier at 11 rue Berryer located in the heart of Paris, near the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré between 1872 and 1878, on the site of the remains of Balzac’s residence, the folie Beaujon, extending the garden with the purchase of 20 rue de Balzac in 1882. The architects were Léon Ohnet and Justin Ponsard. The house had features in common with other Rothschild houses, such as Ferrières and 47 rue de Monceau, the core of the house being a vast hall surrounded by an upper gallery, and featuring an enormous mantle-piece. The interior decoration was consigned to a painter, Léopold Moulignon, who took his inspiration from Baroque and bucolic styles.

Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild

Adèle inherited some of her father Mayer Carl’s magnificent collection of silver. On her death in 1922, Adèle bequeathed the property and her collections to the French government fine arts administration rather than to her only child, Hélène de Rothschild, whom she had disinherited for marrying a Roman Catholic, Baron Etienne van Zuylen de Nyevelt (1860-1934) in 1887. Adèle’s wish was that it should be used for artists and academics under the name ‘Fondation Salomon de Rothschild’.

11 rue Berryer was the site of a presidential assassination on 6 May 1932. French President Paul Doumer was at a book fair in the hotel when a mentally unstable Russian émigré, Paul Gorguloff, opened fire at him. Doumer died the following morning.

Today the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild is home to the Centre national de la photographie and its renowned garden is open to the public. As of 2022, the following cultural and socio-educational organisations are housed in the building: A.D.A.G.P (Ste des Auteurs Arts Graphiques et Plastiques), Foundation Albert Gleizes, Foundation Nationale des Arts Graphiques Plastiques (F.N.A.G.P.), Les Amis de Nogent, Maison des Artistes, Société Nationale des Beaux Arts and the Syndicat National des Sculpteurs.