French Domestic Architecture in the Early 18th Century: The Town Houses of Robert de

Cotte
Author(s): Robert Neuman
Source: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1980), pp.
128-144
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society of Architectural Historians
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/989581 .
Accessed: 06/06/2014 14:46
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

University of California Press and Society of Architectural Historians are collaborating with JSTOR to
digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

French Domestic Architecture in the Early i 8th Century:

The Town Houses of Robert de Cotte
R O BER T N EU M A N

Department of Art, Florida State University

The original drawings and published designs for town houses by

Robert de Cotte are examined here in order to clarifya relatively
unknown aspect of his activity as one of the dominant figures in
French architecture of the early i8th century. The projects,
which date from I7Io to I7I6, are set against the background of
the history of the hotel, a distinct architectural type that underwent a remarkable period of development in Paris during the
first three decades of the century. New light is shed on the
architect's attitude toward the urban mansion by a virtually
unknown series of designs in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
Taken as a group with the executed plans, they demonstrate that
de Cotte's ability lay not in the development of new ideas but in
synthesis of a very high order-his sources were primarily the
works of J. H. Mansart and Lassurance. His designs are distinguished by a consistent interest in giving the corps-de-logis the
appearance of a freestanding block. In the elevations, he concentrated on harmonious compositions with suavely detailed motifs,
achieving an elegant simplicity entirely his own. The relation of
his plans to the functions of an h6tel, as revealed in housebuilding manuals of the period, shows that de Cotte sought to
satisfy both the public and private needs of his clients.
FRENCH

ARCHITECTURE

changed significantly during the

first three decades of the I8th century. Royal commissions for

public monuments and palatial structures had all but ceased
under the impact of the costly and protracted wars of Louis
XIV. A notable increase in private construction had occurred in
Specialthanks are due Mmes. Jestaz and Grivelof the Cabinetdes
of
Estampes,BibliothequeNationale,Paris,andMme.C. Lamy-Lassalle
the MonumentsHistoriques,for theirassistance.An earlierversionof
this essay was presentedat the AnnualMeetingof the College Art
Associationin New YorkCity,January1978.
I. Constructionfundedby the Crownduringthe earlyi8th century
centeredon the completionof the largeschemesbegunin the previous
century,notablythe PlaceVend6meandtheH6teldes Invalides.SeeW.
KalneinandM. Levy,ArtandArchitecture
of theEighteenthCenturyin
France, Harmondsworth, 1972, 21-z107,

hereafter cited as Kalnein,

Art and Architecture,as he was solely responsiblefor the section on

architecture.

Paris even before the death of the Sun King in September 1715
and the removal of the court from Versailles.2Moreover, a new
economic elite now joined the nobility and the established upper
bourgeoisie as the chief sources of non-royal patronage, for the
financiers and speculators who had realized sudden and immense wealth during the wars were bent on copying the life style
of the aristocracy.3Closely related to this phenomenon was the
acceleration of a process that had been underway since the I7th
century, namely the blurringof class lines through marriage, the
purchase of offices and noble titles, and extravagant expenditure
on such status symbols as magnificenthouses.4 To accommodate
the need for construction sites in the crowded city as well as to
meet the demand for luxurious houses on spacious grounds,
residential quarterswere developed along the western boundary
of Paris: on the Right Bank the Faubourg Saint-Honor6 replaced
the Marais as a fashionable neighborhood, while on the Left
Bank the Faubourg Saint-Germaindeveloped into a network of
impressive streets lined with mansions giving onto long, airy
gardens.5 It was in this rapidly expanding city environment that
2. On the growthof Parisduringthe periodof Louis XIV, see L.
Bernard,The EmergingCity:Parisin the Age of LouisXIV, Durham,
NC, 1970; 0. Ranum, Paris in the Age of Absolutism, New York, 1968;
and P. Lavedan, Histoire de l'urbanisme, Paris, I9z6-I95z, 3 vols.,
Renaissance et Temps modernes, II, Paris, 1941, 33 2-35 8.

3. E. Barber,The Bourgeoisiein I8th CenturyFrance,Princeton,

1955, 93-98; J. Lough,An Introductionto EighteenthCenturyFrance,

London, 1960, 88-90.

4. For the social backgroundof the period, see C. Louandre,La

Noblessefrancaisesous l'anciennemonarchie,Paris,i880, and F. L.
Ford,RobeandSword:TheRegroupingof theFrenchAristocracyafter
Louis XIV, Cambridge, MA, 1953.
5. The social makeupof the inhabitantsof the variousdistrictsis

discussedby L. Hautecoeur,Histoire de l'architectureclassiqueen

France, Paris, 1943-1959, 7 vols., Premiere moitie du XVIIIe siecle: le
style Louis XV, II, Paris, I950, 37-44. The most comprehensive survey

of theFaubourgSaint-Germain,
withextensiveliterature,is Y. Christ,J.
S. de Sacy,P. Siguret,Le FaubourgSaint-Germain,
Paris,1966.
The appearanceof Parisandthe newfaubourgsfollowingthis period
of activitymaybeseenin thebird'seyeviewpublishedbyTurgot(I 739),
which,althoughunreliablein manydetails,adequatelyconveysa sense
of how extensivelyprivategardenscontributedto the enjoymentof life
in thecity.

I28

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

the intensification of private patronage secured the triumph of

the French urban dwelling in its most representative form-the
hotel particulier.
This residential boom constitutes one of the spectacular legacies of the I8th century to moder-day Paris, and has made
famous the names of such town house designers as Boffrand,
Lassurance, and Delamaire.6 Less familiar are the urban dwellthe brother-in-law and
ings of Robert de Cotte (I656-1735),
protege of Jules Hardouin Mansart, whom he succeeded as
PremierArchitecte du Roi from 1708 to 173 5.7 As the director of
both the Service des Batiments du Roi and the Academie, de
Cotte was the dominant figure in French architectureduring the
late years of Louis XIV's reign and the Regence. But while de
Cotte's talents in the field of palatial architecture have been
acknowledged, the significance of his work in h6tel design has
not been fully appreciated. Although Wend Graf Kalnein asserts
that de Cotte "set the standards of courtly architecturenot only
for France but for the whole of Europe," he also argues that in
house building the Premier Architecte was not "a front-rank
figure. His numerous official tasks left him little time for private
work."8 This traditional assessment of de Cotte as a competent
but not very active designer of h6tels has come about because
few of the urban mansions erected from his plans have survived,
and the projects themselves have been only partially studied.
A close examination of de Cotte's achievements reveals, however, that he was extremely active in this field during the second
decade of the century and that he developed a unique conception
of the town house which responded to the social and artistic
requirements of that time. Two sources provide the basis for

129

such an examination: the engravings published by Mariette and

Blondel, which may be taken as a faithful record of the constructed buildings, and a series of unpublished drawings for both
executed and unexecuted projects which, in terms of sheer quantity alone, exceed the number produced by any contemporary
architect.9 When the collection of several thousand drawings
and handwritten documents from the de Cotte studio was purchased by the French government in 1811, the material was
divided among the various Departements of the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris,so that its retrievaland study have been severely
hampered.'1 In the specific case of the hdtel designs, scattered
throughout the volumes of the Topographie, the essential homogeneity of the projects has long gone unobserved.
The Parisian town house was one of the most remarkable
inventions of the French Renaissance. Despite the numerous and
varying conditions contributing to its layout, a few basic types
emerged during the i6th century, the most important being the
hotel-entre-cour-et-jardin,so called because the principal block,
or corps-de-logis, was placed halfway down the site between the
court and garden." Narrow wings framing the court usually
9. Thispaperdealsonly with de Cotte'smost significantprojectsfor
h6tels.For a morecomprehensive
listing,not alwaysaccurateor complete,of whichthemajoritycompriseinteriorrenovations,seeHardouin
Mansartet son ecole,expositionorganiseeparla Directiongeneralede
l'Architecture, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 1946, 61-64. De Cotte

headedan immenselyproductivearchitectural
agencyand thus rarely
executedthe finisheddesignshimself.A teamof draughtsmen
produced
the exquisitecolored drawings,with verbal notes in a professional
script,for presentationto importantclients.The PremierArchitecte's
handmay be readin the penciland charcoalsketchesdrawnor pasted
overthe drawingsof the dessinateurs,andthe noteshe scribbledin the
margins.

6. For the history of the town house between 1700 and 1730, see
Kalnein, Art and Architecture, zI8-228, 239-250. On the h6tel as an
architecturaltype, Hautecoeur, Histoire, III, 79-215.

7. No monographon de Cotteexists,but see the conciseand illuminating discussion in Kalnein, Art and Architecture, 206-207, 25o-259.
De Cotte's relationship to Mansart, and the operation of the Service des
Batiments du Roi, are discussed in two unpublished doctoral dissertations: B. Jestaz, "Jules Hardouin Mansart: l'oeuvre personelle, les
methodes de travail et les collaborateurs," Positions des ThBses, Ecole
de Chartes, Paris, 1962, 67-72; J.-L. d'lberville-Moreau, "Robert de
Cotte: His Careeras an Architect and the Organization of the Servicedes
Batiments," University of London, 1972. For a more accessible source
on the Batiments, see F. Kimball, The Creation of the Rococo, New
York, 1943, 36-40.
8. Kalnein, Art and Architecture, 207, 223. The best known domestic
commission carried out by de Cotte was not for an original structure at
all, but for the justifiably celebrated remodelling of Francois Mansart's
H6tel de la Vrilliire, erected 1635-1638. After passing through various
hands, the house was purchased in January 1713 by Louis-Alexandre de
Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse, legitimized son of Louis XIV and Mme.
de Montespan. De Cotte's work (I713-I1719) consisted of a new system
of appartements, a modern stair, and the integration of several adjacent
houses with the right wing of the h6tel. For a history of the house with
documentation, see A. Braham and P. Smith, Francois Mansart, London, 1973, I, 209-214. On the Galerie Doree, virtually the only part of
the building surviving within the complex of the Banque de France
presently occupying the site, see Kimball, Creation, 104-105, 117-119.

io. The drawingsare primarilyclassifiedin the Topographieof the

Cabinetdes Estampesaccordingto the geographicallocationof the site.
manuscrit
ThepieceswerecataloguedbyAlfredMarieinthe"Inventaire
desdessinsde Robertde Cotte"(Bibl.nat.Est.Ye 187).Briefresumesof
the handwrittenand printeddocumentswith lists of relateddrawings
were publishedby P. Marcel, Inventairedes papiersmanuscritsdu
cabinetde Robertde Cotte,Paris,1906, buthe did not listdrawingsfor
which no documentsexist. Otherseriesof drawingsfor town houses,
unrelatedto the genreof housediscussedhere,are kept in the Bibliothequede l'Institut,Paris,and in the ArchivesNationales.A studyof
severalmajorgroupsof projects,with respectto questionsof styleand
decorum,formedthe basis of my doctoraldissertation,"Robertde
Cotte,Architectof the LateBaroque,"Universityof Michigan,1978. 1
should like to acknowledgegratefullythe assistanceof my advisor,
ProfessorNathanT. Whitman.
11. In the secondmajortypeof layout,the corps-de-logiswas placed
on the street,with the courtand gardenlocatedbeyond;this formula
was rarelyusedin the 8th century.Fornoteson the originsof theh6tel
to which the status-ladenelementsof
types, and the transformations
stair,gallery,andchapelweresubmitted,see F. Boudon,A. Chastel,H.
urbaine:le quartierdes
Couzy,andF. Hamon,Systemede l'architecture
Halles a Paris,Paris, 1977, 182-239. The term h6tel was originally
restrictedto housesof the nobility,whilethe wordmaisonwas applied
to town mansionsof the middleclass, a distinctionthat had broken
down by the secondhalf of the I7th century;see J.-P. Babelon,Demeuresparisiennessous HenriIV et Louis XIII, Paris,2nd ed. 1977,
II7.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

I30

JSAH, XXXIX:2

extendedforwardto the street,and the court was closed by a

servicewingwith a classicalporticoat center.If the site allowed,
servicecourtswere locatedto eitherside of the maincourtand
out of viewof thevisitor.Theappealof so simplea formulalayin
its flexibility:by the judiciousplacementof the parts,a building
erectedon an irregularsite couldbe designedto appearordered
andsymmetrical.
The interiorlayout of the corps-de-logiscompriseda few
commonroomssuchas thesalleor salonforlargegatheringsand
concerts,and a seriesof independentflatscalledappartements
for thehabitationof individualmembersof the family.Husband
andwife hadseparate,spaciousapartments,whilethe restof the
familyreceivedless splendidaccommodations.The secretaries,
tutors,priests,domestics,andotherdependentsweregivenlodgingson theupperfloorsor overthestables,usuallynearthe place
wherethey worked.Overthe yearsthe appartementrarelydeviatedfroma particularcombinationof rooms:theantichambre
or waitingroom;the chambreor bed-sittingroom,usedbothfor
sleepingand reception;the cabinet,the least public place, to
whichonly the most importantvisitorswere admitted;and the
garde-robe,servingas dressingroomandcloset.12The sequence
in whichthe roomswereto be viewed,and theiractualnumber
(whichcould be expanded,for example,to includea first,second, and thirdcabinet)dependedon manyfactors,particularly
the wealthandstatusof the patron.
De Cotte was activeduringa conservativeperiodof French
architecturethatdrewinspirationfromthe achievementsof the
past. Both he and his contemporariesembracedmany of the
formulaeanddevicesdevelopedduringtwo earlierphasesin the
evolutionof town house design.The firstwas one of trialand
error,beginningjust beforethe mid-I6th centuryand lasting
about 80 years.The ItalianarchitectSerlioinitiallycombined
classical principlesof regularitywith the Frenchinterest in
practicalityin his plan for the GrandFerrarein Fontainebleau
(I544-I546).

Serlio's innovation was adopted soon after in

Parisfor the H6tel Camavalet(1548-I55o) and other structures.13The corps-de-logisin the firstphasewas only one room
iz. No fewerthan44 buildingmanualsandtreatisesdealingwholly
werepublishedin Francebetween
or in partwith domesticarchitecture
I691 and 1787, compared to a mere half-dozen in the preceding years of

the I7th century.They are remarkablefor the degreeto which they

explicitlydefinethe functionsof thevariousroomsin theprivatehouse;
see for exampleC. A. Daviler(ed. A. Le Blond),Coursd'architecture,
Paris, znd ed. 1710, I85.8-9. Despite the dependence of these publica-

tionson eachother(thetendencywasto expandon earliertexts)theyare

a reliableindex in determiningwhichelementsof the housewere consideredtraditionaland which were subjectto changesin taste, with
respectto both locationand function.In studyingde Cotte'shotels I
havemostoftenturnedto the I71I editionof Daviler,becauseit is close
to the yearsof the architect'sactivity,but referencesto the othermajor
publicationsof theperiodhavebeenmadein the notesthatfollow.
Naissancede
13. J.-P. Babelon,"Du 'GrandFerrare'a Carnavalet:
l'h6tel classique," Revue de I'Art,XL-XLI,1978, 83-I08.

deep (designatedan appartementsimple),and elevationswere

andquoins
oftenausterein the extreme,with onlystringcourses
the
flat
walls.
articulating
The second phase, commencing in the 62zos and terminating

towardthe endof the century,saw an emphasison distribution,

the judiciousplacementof roomsas a meansof easingcirculation.14The appartementdouble,a doublesuite of rooms,was
introduced by Le Vau at the H6tel Tambonneau (1639) and later

usedby FrancoisMansartat theH6tel deJars(1648);thismade

possibletwo apartmentson a singlefloorand/orspaceforchambersof morespecializedfunction,suchas the sallea manger.15
The 8th centuryfalselypopularizedthemyththatgenuineease
of livingwas unknownto theBaroqueage;in factcomfortin the
modem sense was the creationof this second phase.16Commodite, or convenienceand ease in the broadestterms, was
foremost in the minds of the Frenchfrom around I6zo, when the

Marquisede Rambouilletand othersput into practicethe concept of separatingpublicfromprivateroomsin the house-an

idea which in its most significantforminvolvedthe differentiationof theappartementdeparade(forshowor display)fromthe
Elevationsin this
more intimateappartementde commodite.17
between
and
fluctuated
richness,tendingin the
severity
period
lateri 7th centurytowardcomplicatedeffectsthroughthe lavish
useof the orders.18
with examplesfrom
I4. For an extensivedefinitionof distribution,
the realmof privatearchitecture,see C. A. Daviler(ed.Jombert),Dictionnaire d'architecture civile et hydraulique, Paris, 1755, 50.
15. Babelon, Demeures, 196. On the major h6tel designers of the i7th
century, see Braham and Smith, Mansart, I, 31-38, 68-79, 92-I0o; R.
Berger, Antoine Le Pautre, New York, 1969, 17-20, 37-46; C. Tooth,
"The Early Private Houses of Louis Le Vau," Burlington Magazine, cix,
I967, 5I0-518.

16. J. Courtonne, Traite de la perspective pratique, Paris, 1725, 92,

praised the continuous advances made in French planning over the
previous hundred years, but by mid-century these innovations were
scarcely acknowledged by men like Blondel and Patte who claimed that
commodite was first introduced into French buildings of the I72os: J.-F.
Blondel, Architecture francaise, Paris, 1751-1756, I, 267, and P. Patte,
Monuments erigis a la gloire de Louis XV, Paris, 1765, 6, cited in
Kalnein, Art and Architecture, 247. M.-A. Laugier's recommendations
"pour rendre des appartements commodes" had almost all been employed in the I7th century: Essai sur I'architecture,Paris, znd ed. 1755,
151-153.

InteriorDecorationin Eng17. P. Thornton,Seventeenth-Century

land, France, and Holland, New Haven, 1978, 10, zi. On the I7thcentury view of commodite, see for example L. Savot (ed. F. Blondel),
L'Architecturefran?oise des batiments particuliers, Paris, 1673, I0- 5;

P. Le Muet, Manierede bien bastirpour toutes sortes de personnes,

Paris, 168I ed., 6-7; M. J. Ballot, Le Decor interieuredu XVIIIe siecle i

Paris et dans l'Ilede France, Paris, I930, 4-8. On the Marquise de
Rambouillet, see Babelon, Demeures, 89- 90.
18. Babelon, Demeures, 133-140. See for example the elevations for
an ideal residence of a man of quality in C. A. Daviler, Cours d'architecture, Paris, 1691, and subsequent eds., pl. 63.A-B. As early as I706,J.
L. Cordemoy complained that many architects mistook sculptural richness and the multiplication of pilasters and moldings as a guarantee of
success (Nouveau Traite de toute l'architecture,Paris, 1714 ed., 64).

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

131

Fig. i. Jules Hardouin Mansart,

ChateauNeuf de Meudon, I706I709, partially destroyed, garden

facade (engraving by Mariette;

Libraryof Congress).

The third phase of h6tel design, from 1700 to 1730, was

highly dependent on the work of de Cotte's mentor, Jules Hardouin Mansart. The extensive use of corridors and many other
new features introduced by Mansart for the provision of commodite in the minor floors and wings of those buildings housing
the court-for example, the Chateau de Clagny (1676) and the
later absorbed
Chateau Neuf at Meudon (I706-I709)-were
into the vocabulary of hotel architecture.19In addition, Mansart's method of laying out an urban mansion became something
of a commonplace during the early i8th century; his H6tel de
Noailles, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (I679), employed an unobstructed longitudinal axis running from the courtyardthrough a
paired vestibule-salon configuration into the garden, with symmetrically placed apartmentson either side of the axis.20For the
elevations of his hotels and several structuresfor the royal family, Mansart tended to restrictthe placement of the orders to the
central pavilion alone. The new desire for simplicity which characterized the late years of the Sun King's reign was wonderfully
exemplified by the garden front of the Chateau Neuf, Meudon,
where the visual interest was to be found not in structuralmotifs
such as columns or horizontal moldings defining the division of

the floors, but rather in decorative devices such as elegant window surrounds and wrought-iron balconies on sculptured
brackets (Fig. I).21
Many of these features were absorbed by Pierre Cailleteau,
called Lassurance, Mansart's assistant from i684 to I700 and
the chief designer of hotels during the first decade of the new
century.22His Hotel Desmarets, one of the chief monuments of
the third phase, was erected in the Faubourg Saint-Honore in
1704, that is, about the same time de Cotte was beginning his
career as a remodeller of older hotels.23 Lassurance'splan followed Frenchtradition in the disposition of four wings around a
court and maintained a feeling for hierarchy in the stress on
social rank: the stables were placed furthestfrom the house, next
to the street; the kitchen and carriage stalls bordered the court;
the commun or hall for domestics was tangent to but not part of
the corps-de-logis, two rooms deep (hence, double; Fig. z). The
axiality of the ground floor was emphasized by the centrally
located entrance giving onto a vestibule-salon unit; on the cross2z. Kalnein,ArtandArchitecture,
zo3-zo5.
22.

Lassurance
producedfiveh6telsduringthe firstdecadealone:the

Hotel de Rothelin (1700), Hotel Desmarets (I704), and the Hotels

d'Auvergne,de Bethune,and de Maisons(all 1708). See Kalnein,Art

19. Also the Chateau de Marly (begun I679) and the Trianon-sous-

and Architecture, zz0-223.

Bourbon,Princessede Conti,to remodelMansart'sH6telde Lorge;see

B.Jestaz,"L'H6telde Lorgeet sa placedansl'oeuvredeJulesHardouin

z3. De Cotte'sfirst majortask was the interiorremodellingof Le

Vau's Hotel de Lionnein I703 for the Chancellorde Pontchartrain
(Kalnein,Art and Architecture,376, n. 48). It was followedby the
extensivestructuralremodellingof Le Pautre'sHotel de Beauvaisin
to
1706 forJeanOrry,seigneurdeVignoryandtheKing'srepresentative
the Spanishcourt(from1701).Thisprojectconsistedof thesubdivision
of the streetfacade.SeeBerger,Le
of the roomsandthe simplification
Pautre,4 n. z7, andJ. Cousin,L'Hotelde Beauvais,rueSaint-Antoine,

Mansart," Bulletin Monumental, 197I, I6I-i8i.

Paris, 1864, 46-48.

Bois(afterI678). J.-F.Blondelcitedthe Chateaude Clagnyas a turning

whereexteriorbeautywas combinedwith
pointin Frencharchitecture,
an equalmeasureof interiorcommodite(L'Hommedu mondeeclaire
par les arts, Amsterdam, 1774, 31).

zo. L. Hautecoeur,Histoirede l'architecture

classiqueen France,ii,
Paris, 1948, 590-592. In 1724 de Cotte was called on by Marie-Anne de

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

132

JSAH, XXXIX:2

f- w n /W fl/ ! ItT/ w?e

1/."<7/
t/ AmX
A

/.' ,.f/wI
h,/ .//,

/r,,

,/ ,

/I

,,,m'::

%'
^t fja^

k le/a

.
W

L"

li(_ll
Fig. z. Lassurance, Hotel Desmarets, Paris, 1704, destroyed, ground
plan (J.-F.Blondel, Architecturefrancaise, Paris, 175 2-1756; Libraryof
Congress).

axisthevestibuleandstairformeda spacecounteredby thesalle

a mangeron the left. The roomson the gardensidemadeup a
singleapartment,while lesserrooms and lightwellswere congregatedat the fringesof the mainblock.Theelevations(Fig.3)
wereennobledby frontispiecesbasedon the Chateaude Clagny
andthe H6telde Noailles.Lassurance's
signaturewas evidentin
the tall, closelyspacedwindowsborderedby flat linearframes
andoftencappedwith buoyantsegmentalarches.
*

De Cotte'sfirstprivatehouse, the Hotel de Lude,was constructedin the FaubourgSaint-Germainfor FrancoisDuret,

Presidentde la ChambredesComptesandSecretaire
du Cabinet
du Roi, who latersold the hotel to the DuchesseDouairieredu
Lude.Thebuildingwas destroyedin the i th century,so thatthe
only recordof the architect'sintentis to be foundin the engravings of Mariette.24The design dates from around 17I0, six years
24. The site, presently 244 boulevard Saint-Germain, is occupied by

; \)1

-A

Fig. 3. Hotel Desmarets, garden and court elevations (Blondel, Architecture francaise; Libraryof Congress).

after the H6tel Desmarets. A comparison of the H6tel de Lude

with Lassurance'sh6tel revealsthat the organizationalprinciples
employed by de Cotte gave precedenceto pomp and display (Fig.
4). It is clear from the location of the chimney pieces acting as
focal points confronting the viewer that the house was normally
entered by the vestibule on the right-handside of the court. From
there the visitor was immediately conducted into a suite of seven
chambers running along the garden facade-a magnificent ensemble virtually without equal in contemporary houses. The
depth of the entire suite was visible at a glance through the portes
en enfilade.
The grande salle led to the appartement de parade which was
essentially simple, thus having the advantageof receivingnatural
light on two sides, and which was composed of an antichambre,
chambre du dais, and grand cabinet. The appartement de commodite followed, consisting of an antichambre, chambre a
coucher, and cabinet. The last room was the most private in the
house, where the owner might read, compose letters, or enjoy the

the officesof the MinisteredesTravauxPublics.Fora list of the subsequent owners, see Christ, et al., I75, where the architect is given as
"Pierre de Cotte" (no source is cited). No original drawings or documents have come to light, but historians have accepted the attribution to

de Cotte and the dating of I710 given by I8th-centurywriters:J.

Mariette, L'Architecturefranqaise, Paris, 1727-1738, 2I9-226;
del, Architecturefrancaise, I, 253.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Blon-

NEUMAN:

TOWN

HOUSES

OF ROBERT

DE COTTE

133

Fig. 4. Robert de Cotte, Hotel

de Lude, Paris, I7IO, destroyed,
ground plan (Blondel, Architecture
francaise; Bibl. nat. Paris).

;a':/ce

k/'

Iu Lucte& du cot e' fiudin.

d

/i^t'/

Fig. 5. H6tel de Lude, garden elevation (Blondel, Architecture fran5aise; Bibl. nat. Paris).
1

r,

i crlre

II

company of intimates. Its counterpart in the appartement de

parade, the grand cabinet, was still subject to the rigors of
contemporary etiquette, although it was not nearly as formal as
the chambre du dais.
In the I7th century, the main reception rooms had normally
been on the upper floor; de Cotte, following the lead of Lassurance and others, here situated the chief apartment on the
ground level and made the gardenimmediatelyaccessiblethrough
a series of doors.25 Since no apartments of significance were

placed on the upper story, no grandiose stairchamberwas necessary. Numerous happy details may be seen in the plan, such as
the insertion of the porter's lodge to the left of the main entry
from the street, renderingthe court symmetrical.The broad site
allowed the placement of a service court to the left, leaving to the
main court the public ceremony of the arrival and departure of
guests. At first glance the kitchen seems far removed from the
salle a manger, but according to contemporary writers it was
considered infinitely preferable to have the meals carried a dis-

25. This also reflects the popularity of the maison a l'italienne, the
low-lying, one-storied structure called by Le Blond in I7IO the "plus

beau& pluscommode"residentialtypeof his day. Forhis reasons,see

Daviler, Cours d'architecture, 171o ed., 8 5.3-4.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Fig. 6. Robert de Cotte, H6tel

d'Estrees, Paris, 1711-1713, street
elevation and plan of the upper floor
(Blondel, Architecture francaise;
Bibl. nat. Paris).

Fig. 7. H6tel d'Estrees, ground plan (Est. Va 270d, 211 5a;

Bibl. nat. Paris).

tioning of the dining hall off the stable court could hardly have
produced an appetizing view.27
Despite the presence of commodious devices, representational
stateliness was the chief goal of the plan and no doubt reflected
the demands of the patron.28The owner of an h6tel used it as a
place of business in addition to a residence: through the overt
display of wealth, a person of quality could increase his status
and widen his orbit of power. The owner wished to impress not
only callers of lesser and equal status, but also those of higher
rank. As Laugierstated at mid-century, "Les petits appartemens
conviennent aux petites fortunes.. . .29 In short, de Cotte
understood that the cozy, intimate rooms for which the century
is famous were not appropriate settings for the conducting of
grand affairs.
The plainness and reserve of the elevations of the H6tel de
Lude, completely devoid of columns and pilasters, must have
surprisedcontemporaries(Fig. 5). Both the lack of the orders and
the compact unity of the design, with the roofs pulled together to
form a single volume, contrast with the lavishly bedecked hotel
facades of the later I7th century, as well as with Lassurance's
elevations for the Hotel Desmarets. The only other architect
willing to forego the orders was Le Blond, as in his design for the
27. Blondel, Architecturefrancaise, I, 253.

tance to the dining room in plats couverts, and reheated if

necessary, than to suffer the noise, fumes, and odors of a kitchen
located within the corps-de-logis.26Nevertheless, in his description of the Hotel de Lude, Blondel did point out that the posi-

z8. The roleof thepatronin determining

thelayoutis commentedon
by M. de Fremin, Mimoires critiques d'architecture, Paris, 1702, 54;
Daviler, Cours d'architecture, I7I0 ed., I85.I, and M. Gallet, Stately

Mansions:EighteenthCenturyParisArchitecture,New York, 1972,

29-34.
z9. Laugier, Essai sur l'architecture, I53-154.

For some perceptive

commentson the representational

use of the I7th-centuryhouse, see
26. Daviler, Cours d'architecture, I7I0 ed., I85.3.

Thornton, Interior Decoration, 2-3.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

C', ali,z dledc lzE: Ji

135

/ duct' ela cot~r-/t,

ueL

Fig.8. H6teld'Estrees,courtelevation (Est. Va z7od, z2I 5f; Bibl. nat.

Paris).

Maison, rue d'Enfer, which he published about the same time

that the H6tel de Lude was erected.30With its reduced vocabulary of decorative motifs, the garden facade even surpassed the
garden front at Meudon; only a few bands of lightly incised
quoins and some keystones relieved the general impression of
severity. The salient motif became the tall, narrow window
repeatedto form a rhythm of dark accents across the white stone
wall while illuminating amply the interior. This degree of sobriety had been seen in the previous period, as well as in the first
phase of hotel design, but the elements were never so delicate or
so low in relief. Several planes were implied by the moldings
around the windows and by the flat, raisedpanels between them.
In abandoning the idiom of classicism, de Cotte may have been
following a principle of decorum whereby the orders were
deemed appropriateonly for public edificesand for the dwellings
of those of exalted birth.31In any case, he was certainlyattempting to create an example of la belle architectureas defined by the
French:an architecturewhose natural and simple beauty was the
result of symmetricalcomposition and a clear, harmonious relationship of the parts.32
De Cotte's next major commission was the h6tel erected in the
Faubourg Saint-Germain between 171I and 1713 for Madeleine-Diane de Bautrude Vauban, Duchesse d'Estreesand widow
of FranSoisAnnibale, third Duc d'Estrees.33It is the only house
by the PremierArchitecte to have survivedin a state comparable
to its original condition, although the elevations were disfigured
in the i9th century by the addition of a full story. At the entrance
30. Daviler,Coursd'architecture,
17o1 ed., pls. 63.D-F.
31. Daviler, Cours d'architecture, 171o ed., 18z: reiterated later in

thecenturyby Laugier,Essai,I05.
32. Savot, L'Architecturefranqoise, I673 ed., i8 n. a; Daviler, Cours
d'architecture, 71o ed., 182-183.

33. Locatedat 79 rue de Grenelle.Accordingto the singleknown

documentwhichconcernsconstruction,the site was purchasedI July

to the courtde Cotte announcedhis willingnessto employthe

of theH6telde
classicalorders(Fig.6). Unliketheporte-cochere
Lude,wherea segmentalarchenframingthe coat of armswas
poisedon two rusticatedpiers,that of the H6tel d'Estreesconsisted of a pair of Doric columnssupportingan abbreviated
entablatureon which the d'Estreescoat of arms rested.The
concavewall servedseveralfunctions:it discreetlyhid the awkwardrelationshipof the axis of the hotelto the street,aidedin
the maneuveringof carriages,and shelteredthe columnsfrom
possibledamageby passingvehicles.34On the court side the
concavitywas reproducedin reverseto formporters'lodgeson
eithersideof thegate(Fig.7).
The plandidnot repeattheschemeof the H6telde Lude.The
use of the longitudinalaxis throughthe vestibuleand grand

17I1. The building is dated 1713 by G. Brice, Description de Paris,

Paris, 175 ed., nII,485, and Mariette, Architecturefrancaise, 176-179.
For a description of the h6tel see Blondel, Architecture francaise, I,
231-233, pls. 40-43. A discussion of the inhabitants and all known
documents was published by F. de Catheu, "Le developpement du
Faubourg Saint-Germain du XVI aux XVIIl siecle: 2. L'H6tel d'Estrees," Bulletin de la Societe de l'Histoire de Paris et I'lle de France,
LXXXII-LXXXIII,1955-1956,

31-39.

See also Christ, et al., Faubourg

Saint-Germain, 240-243, for photographs of the interior in its present

state.
The Papiers de Cotte include drawings for the h6tel, some of which
may post-date construction but match those reproduced by Mariette
(Bibl. nat. Est. Va 27od, 2II5b-c, e-f). It has not been adequately
appreciated that several of de Cotte's original projects are also extant
(Va z7od, z 15a, d, zI i6a).
34. No doubt these aesthetic and practical considerations, detailed by
C. A. Daviler (ed. Jombert), Cours d'architecture, Paris, 1756, 133,
contributed to the enormous popularity of the device. FrancoisMansart
had introduced the use of quadrants on the court side of the entrance
but one naturally
screen at the Hotel de l'Aubespine (ca. I627-I632),
thinks of the fully developed examples by Delamaire at the Hotels de
Rohan and Soubise (I705-I709).

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

136

JSAH, XXXIX:2

antichambre, linking the court and garden, brought the layout

closer to contemporary developments, particularlyLassurance's
classic solution at the Hotel Desmarets (Fig. 2). The major
differencewas that the garden facade was not allowed to run the
entire width of the building site; instead, through the suggestion
of side elevations to the corps-de-logis proper, the main block
appeared to be free-standing. The stair was situated in the lefthand pavilion, a reversion to I7th-century practice which was
justifiedby the importance given the upper story (Fig. 6). Here, in
a magnificent enfilade on the garden side-an arrangement not
unlike the appartement simple of the Hotel de Lude-the Duchesse had her living quarters, incorporating both chambre de
parade and chambre de coucher.
The building contained a total of five apartments. Those on
the ground floor had the advantage of the immediacy of the
garden, while those on the first floor could claim the prospect of
the parterres de broderie, intended to be viewed from above. It
cannot automatically be assumed that each of the apartments
was intended for a separate member of the household, since the
presence of two dining rooms-located independently of the
suites so that the table could be laid or cleared out of sightsuggests the considerable flexibility with which the various
rooms and apartments were probably used. The time of day, the
season, or the presence of important guests could determine, for
example, whether the Duchesse would dine upstairs or down,
and whether she would sleep in a chambre exposed to the north
or south.35 The chapel was a standard feature in a large house,
and here it was appropriately located on the second floor to the
far left of all mundane activities.
At the head of the court de Cotte erected one of his simplest
and most agreeable facades (Fig. 8). In accordance with architectural theory, the etage noble was announced to the visitor by the
Roman arch order whose three bays of Ionic pilasters stood on a
rusticated triplet of arched bays and supported a pediment.36
Contemporaries certainly would have admired the contrast between the richlyarticulatedcentralpavilion and the simple walled
masses to either side, a feature which both J. H. Mansart and
Lassurance had in turn inherited from the previous age (see Le
Vau's courtyard elevation of the H6tel de Tambonneau, begun
I672). Here too the originality of de Cotte's composition lay in
the flatness and delicacy of the forms, and in the unification of
the elements by means of the large, simple shape of the roof, from
which the standard motif of the dormer has been eliminated.37

In conceiving the corps-de-logis as a free-standing block, de

Cotte was transferring from the country to the city one of the
basic features of chateau architecture in its current form, the
maison de plaisance. In view of the popularity of the maison a
l'italienne and the new interest in Palladianism, this shift was
likely, and as early as 1700 Boffrand had already produced a
splendid example in the H6tel Lebrun.38 However, it is the
consistent interest in the isolated block that sets de Cotte's plans
apart from those of his contemporaries. Nowhere in his work is
this ideal more beautifully expressed than in the drawings for the
Hotel de Torcy, one of a series of five unexecuted proposals for
Parisian town houses which, taken as a whole, form a single
compact group. These unpublished drawings have not hitherto
been considered together because they have remained dispersed
throughout the folio volumes of the Cabinet des Estampes;
hence their relationship has never been established.39Although
no firm evidence for dating has come to light, they were almost
certainly produced between 1710 and I716, when de Cotte was
actively engaged in h6tel design.40
As far as can be determined, the project for the Hotel de Torcy
was intended for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Torcy, who
in 1714 moved with his family from the Richelieu quarter to
the Faubourg Saint-Germain. But de Cotte's designs were not
adopted. Instead, the Marquis ultimately resided in the celebrated hotel erected on a site between the rue de Bourbon and the
Seine by de Cotte's colleague in the Batimentsand his major rival
in the h6tel field, GermainBoffrand.41The evidence suggests that
the plans of the two architects were produced in competition
with each other, although whether they were intended for the
same site is not absolutely certain.42The street frontages of both

35. Thetendencyto inhabitdifferentpartsof an hotelin theinterestof

commoditeis commentedon by contemporaries.
See in particularDa-

early i9th century. See Hautecoeur, Histoire, III, 13 2-134, and Christ,
et al., Faubourg Saint-Germain, 119-122.

viler, Cours d'architecture, 170o ed., I85.5-8, and J.-F. Blondel, De la

distribution des maisons de plaisance, Paris, 1737, I, 25.
36. Blondel, Distribution, I, I z.
37. The only break in the symmetry of the design occurs in the
irregular placement of the chimneys at roof level, a concession to the
heating accommodations of the interior. It is more surprising to find a
deviation from symmetry in the ordering of the windows on the garden
faqade, again a concession to the layout of the rooms.

Boffrandalso built the neighboringhotel to the west, inhabitedby

Torcy'scousin,Charles-Eleonor
Colbert,Comtede Seignelay.Thenext
hotelin line was de Cotte'sHoteldu Maine.Fora superbcharacteriza-

38. On the maisona l'italienne,see fn. z5 above. For Palladioand

Boffrand,see Kalnein,ArtandArchitecture,
z2 i andpassim.TheHotel
Lebrunis still an impressivesight,standingfreeon its generousterrain
off the rue Cardinal-Lemoine:
M. Fleury,Paris monumental,Paris,
1974, 234.
39. Thedrawingsareidentifiedin the Bibl.nat.Est.as follows:Hotel
de Torcy, Va z73e, 305-313; Unidentified Hotel, Ha i8, I, 435-436;

Maison pour le Mareschalde Montesquiou,Va 444, z96, Ha i8, I,

297-304; H6telde Chatillon,Va 27oa, 703-709; H6tel,ruede Richelieu, Ha i8, III, 25 22-25

4.

40. Mostof thedrawingsarefromthepenof theanonymousdraughtsman working on the preliminarydrawingsfor the Hotel d'Estrees
(1711-1713) and the Hotel Legendred'Arminy (1713).
4I. Boffrand's designs were published by Blondel, I, z80-282. The

hotel,whichpresentlyservesas the GermanEmbassy,78 ruede Lille,is

betterknownas the Hotel de Beauharnais,
afterthe patronresponsible
for the famousNeo-Egyptianportalattachedto the courtfaqadein the

tion of Boffrand's h6tels, see Kalnein, Art and Architecture, 2z3-zz6.

areunknown.The 8th-centurysources
42. The exactcircumstances
indicatethat Boffranderectedthe h6tel on a speculativebasisin 1713
andthensold it to the Marquisde Torcyin 1714 (Brice,Descriptionde
Paris, IV, 139; Blondel, Architecture francaise, i, z80). Although these

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

137

Fig. Io. Germain Boffrand, H6tel de Torcy, Paris, 1713,

ground plan (Blondel, Architecturefrancaise; Bibl. nat. Paris).

Fig. 9. Robert de Cotte, H6tel de Torcy, Paris, project, ca. 1713,

ground plan (Est. Va z73e, 305; Bibl. nat. Paris).

measure approximately 23 toises and all of the other dimensions

are similar. The pair of designs offers an unrivalled opportunity
to compare, detail for detail, the stylistic featurespeculiarto each
of the two major figures in French architectureduring the first
half of the century.
De Cotte's plan for the H6tel de Torcy amplifiescertainthemes
already noted at the H6tel d'Estr&es(Fig. 9). The curvilinear
walls on the court sides of the porte-cochere usher the visitor into
the grande cour, and to an even greaterdegree the corps-de-logis,
virtually a free-standing block, sits isolated within the site. The
chief rooms, however, are on the ground floor, and the stair is
not adjacentto the vestibule but placed beyond the largesalle. By
blocking the axis and carefullysealing off the apartments,greater
privacy is gained. Indeed, the organization of the plan is now

annular, so that the visitor is conducted through the rooms in a

counter-clockwise movement.
In contrast, Boffrand's H6tel de Torcy fills the width of the
site, and he maintains the vestibule-salon combination on axis
while spreading an imposing suite of rooms across the garden
facade (Fig. io). His upper floor, like de Cotte's, consists of three
appartements, but the larger floor space allows for a gallery on
axis.
In the elevations, the differences between the two architects
appear even greater. Boffrand's court elevation (Fig. i ) is typical of his robust style, eschewing utterly the graciousness of de
Cotte's faiades. The wall is composed of three planes advancing
toward the center, the stark windows at the ends giving way to
superimposed arcadesin the midsection. Not only the orders but
even rusticatedstrips are lacking, leaving only bland expanses of
wall. If such a style looks forward to the boldly expressive
architectureof later I 8th-centuryartists, de Cotte's court facade
(Fig. I z) looks back to a composition stated eloquently earlierin
the century: the court front of Bullet de Chamblain'sChateau de
Champs (I703-I707

).43 The traditional pavilions, the simple

writersare not alwaysreliable,this informationis not necessarilyat

variancewiththeevidenceof thedrawings,whichsuggeststhatde Cotte
and Boffrandeachproduceda set of plansfor the H6tel de Torcyand
that the Marquismade a consciousdecisionin favor of, Boffrand's.
Certainly,as a leadingministerat the courtof LouisXIVanda member
of so powerfula family,the nephewof the GrandColbertwould have

outline of the roof, and the exquisite frontispiece, open below

and closed above, were reworked by de Cotte into a harmonious
whole. Visually, the central pavilion provides a strong central
focus. In addition, the unglazed vestibule would have had the
double advantage of revealing from a distance the beauty of the
interior while allowing visitors easy access during inclement
weather.
Boffrand's street facade is similar to that of the Hotel d'Estrees in emphasizing the autonomy of the components-portecochere, screen walls, and pavilions are each articulated differently. De Cotte, on the other hand, pulled the various parts
together into a single horizontal shape capped with low hipped
roofs and punctuated all across by the vertical windows and

preferred the more ample accommodations provided by Boffrand (Dictionnaire de biographie francaise, Paris, 1933-, XIX, I95-I96). See
Kalnein, Art and Architecture, 224-zz6.

Arts, s. 6, LXI, I963, 8 -Ioo.

43. R. Strandberg, "Le Chateau de Champs," Gazette des Beaux-

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

138

JSAH, XXXIX:2

Fig. iI. GermainBoffrand,H6tel

de Torcy,courtelevation(Blondel,
Architecture francaise; Bibl. nat.
Paris).
<<l4A
i~4"#
70t.6-!^m

1 1 s.1

".W
II_

*lmiim*~Y n,I`r

.-I4 .r&

-n

"9

'4 2 :4
I:

, **-

. .t'v- *,

+*e?

/JUnJ.a.,

Fig. 13. Robertde Cotte,H6telde Torcy,streetelevation

(Est. Va 273e, 31; Bibl. nat. Paris).

Fig. i z. Robertde Cotte,Hotelde Torcy,

court elevation (Va 273e, 3 Io; Bibl. nat. Paris).

pilaster strips (Fig. 3). Blondel would no doubt have approved

so homogeneous a composition, wherein the end pavilions are as
suavely articulated as the central portico, so that the entire
ensemble would be a worthy accompaniment to a grande rue in
the capital city.44
De Cotte's cross section of the building includes the screen
walls enclosing the court, and conveys an immediate impression
of the general proportions of the rooms relative to each other

44. Blondel, Architecture franqaise, I, 3z3, criticized the street pa-

vilionsof the Hotel d'Estreesas too simplein design.In fact, over a

periodof a centurya gradualchangein the articulationof the street
fa;adetook place.Duringthe I7th century,thewingsframingthe sides
of the courtwere givengreatimportance,terminatingat the streetin
large,blockypavilions.With the increasingisolationof the corps-delogismidwaydownthesitein the I8th century,thesewingsdisappeared,
andthestreetfacadetook on theeffectof a screen,withtheendpavilions
usually receiving little articulation.

Fig. I4. Robertde Cotte,Hotel de Torcy,crosssection(Est.Va 273e,

3 3; Bibl. nat. Paris).

(Fig. I4). The lower story of the pavilions projecting from the
main block incorporates a blind arcade, a curious vestige of the
arcades and galleries traditionally surroundingthe court in medieval and Renaissance houses. Only the barest indications of
interior detailing are included in the section, suggesting that here
as elsewhere de Cotte took responsibility for creating only the
architectural shell, and left the design of the panelling, floors,

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

I39

ii

i:'

Fig. i6. Maison pour le Mareschal de Montesquiou, project,

garden elevation (Est. Ha 18, I, 302; Bibl. nat. Paris).

and other elements within to the various artists in the Servicedes

Batiments or to independent contractors.45
Of the group of five unexecuted projects,the H6tel de Torcy is
the most carefully worked-out example of de Cotte's ideal. Despite the lack of a precise chronological relationship, the others
may be seen as variations on the same general concept, with
referencesto the Hotel d'Estr6esas well. The project identifiedas
"un maison pour la rue de Grenelle [in the Faubourg SaintGermain] pour le Mareschal de Montesquiou"46is very similar
to the Hotel de Torcy in its dimensions, but here the corps-delogis occupies the full width of the lot, allowing for a more
intricate pattern of rooms and a stair which spills into the space
of the vestibule (Fig. 5). The elevations are also expanded
versions of those in the Torcy series (Fig. i6). In the project
identified as the Hotel de Chatillon, the layout of the court and
service wings follows the pattern of the d'Estrees house, while
the plan of the corps-de-logis is similar to that of the Hotel de
Torcy, but with two major changes: the sequence of rooms in the
annular plan is followed in clockwise progression, culminating
in the chambre de parade on axis; no side pavilions mark either
the court or garden facades, which are cut back on the ends to
form shallow planes in depth (Fig. I7). The type of frontispiece
employed on the Torcy court facade is used on the corresponding fronts of both the Hotel de Chatillon (Fig. 18) and the
unidentified hotel, whereas variations of the d'Estrees frontis-

45 The extent of de Cotte's influence on the development of the

Fig. 5. Robert de Cotte, Maison pour le Mareschal de Montesquiou,

Paris, project, ground plan (Est. Va 444, z96; Bibl. nat. Paris).

Rococointeriorhasbeendebated.Jestaz,"Mansart,"71, emphasizesde
Cotte's contributionover that of Lepautre,who is championedby
Kimball,Creation,66-84. Kalnein,Art and Architecture,z6o, characterizesthe decorativedesignsas "somewhatbloodless"and "conventional,"a judgmentwithwhichI aminclinedto agree.
46. Presumablyfor Pierrede Montesquiou,Comted'Artagnan,Mareschalde France(I709) andgovernorof Brittany:NouvelleBiographie
generale, Paris, i855, xxxvI, 192-I93.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JSAH, XXXIX:2

140

II;
f,i
.
Ii

7.
I:

=
,LL,9zX
i'
j

I'
,

-S7 -S\
,

:ai

.ik.

1I.
.~I, *

ii

Fig. 18. H6tel de Chatillon, project, court elevation

(Est. Va 27oa, 709; Bibl. nat. Paris).

Fig. I9. Robert de Cotte, unidentifiedh6tel, Paris, project,

garden elevation (Est. Ha 8, I, 43 5; Bibl. nat. Paris).

Fig. 17. Robert de Cotte, H6tel de Chatillon, Paris, project,

ground plan (Est. Va z7oa, 705; Bibl. nat. Paris).

piece are the focal points of the garden facades of these same
buildings (Fig. 19). All of the elevations, including the deceptively simple sketches for the so-called Hotel, rue de Richelieu,
demonstrate to what degree the architect, by eliminating overly
elaborate devices from his vocabulary of decorative forms, was
free to concentrate on the harmonious coordination of large
masses (Fig. zo).
Certain general observations may be made concerning the
group as a whole. De Cotte consistently preferred the type of
h6tel-entre-cour-et-jardin despite the interest of some of his
contemporaries in placing the corps-de-logis on the street; he
also followed the normal practice of making the court more deep
than broad, so that the viewer standing at the porte-cochbre
would perceive it as square. Despite variations in the ground
plans, their layout is always the result of the posing of two
questions-how to route the visitor through the public rooms,
and how to ensure seclusion in the private chambers. Unlike

1 is

I 9iM 1
III
'I1,
I
ItmI- I4
ff+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

il

1.
'iH 4

Fig. zo. Robert de Cotte, H6tel, rue de Richelieu, Paris,

project, garden and court elevations (Est. Ha 18, III, 25z4;

Bibl.nat.Paris).

Boffrand,who followed the tradition of Le Vau in devising room

sequences of contrasting geometrical shapes, de Cotte designed
primarily square or rectangular rooms, commonly thought to
provide more usable space and to be less expensive to con-

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

141

struct.47He never employed an oval salon projecting from the

center of the garden facade, despite its popularity among his
colleagues (e.g., Boffrand's Hotel Amelot de Gournay, 1712;
Courtonne's

H6tel de Matignon,

17z2-1724),

probably for

reasons related to bienseance or decorum; the motif properly

belonged to the realmof palatialarchitecture.48
The major stairs are of the a la franqaise, or open-well type,
placed to the side of the vestibule so as not to disturb the grand
suite of chambers.Smallerservice stairs free the grand stair of the
presence of servants. None of the plans has a salle de bain or an
appartement des bains, still rare in the second decade of the
century. Laws requiring sanitary facilities were already in effect
in the I7th century, and the items necessary for bathing were
easily carriedto a cabinet or garde-robe.9
One of the most pleasurableareas of the hotel was the garden.
In 17I3 Dezallier d'Argenvilleobserved, "There is nothing more
agreeable and delicious than a beautiful garden, nicely laid out
and well kept, whose appearance contents the eyes and gives
satisfaction to men of good taste."50 Although an occasional
jardin fruitier or jardin potager might appear, the jardin de
proprete remained the standard type, so that for the h6tels de
Cotte usually provided a detailed scheme incorporating parterres, compartiments de broderie, fountains, basins, terraces,
and stairs.
The elevations in the series are normally composed of two
equal stories with an attic, lit by dormers, incorporated into the
mansardroof. The court facades are terminatedby end pavilions
which project emphatically; the garden facades place greater
emphasis on the central pavilion, often to the point of eliminating any reinforcementof the ends. In all cases, the degree of relief
on the garden side is modest. In addition to the simple motifs of
rectilinear window frames and rusticated quoins, the designer
used forged-iron balconies and railings to animate the surface.
Most significantly, the homogeneous character of the projects
suggests that when designing a facade, de Cotte was free to
follow the dictates of his own taste and judgment.51
47. Courtonne,Trait, 97.
48. On de Cotte's palace designs, which consistently employ the
protruding oval salon-a device popularized by Le Vau-see Kalnein,
Art and Architecture, z50-258.
49. Babelon, Demeures, 96-97. Bathing habits in 17th-century
France are discussed by Thornton, Interior Decoration, 3 5-324. On
the well-known I 8th-century developments in hygiene, see Hautecoeur,
Architecturefrancaise, III, 201-z04.
50. "Y a-t-il rien de plus agreable & de plus delicieux, qu'un beau
Jardin, bien dispos6 & bien entretenu, rien dont l'aspect contente plus les
yeux, & donne plus de satisfaction aux gens de bon goit." A. J. Dezallier
d'Argenville, La Theorie et la pratique du jardinage, The Hague, 1722
ed., 3.
51. On the articulation of faqadesthrough the use of pavilions, orders,
and sculpture-for which the good taste of the architect formed the
standard-see the lengthy discussion in C.-E. Briseux, L'Art de batir les
maisons de campagne, Paris, 1743, II, 15-I52,
post-dating de Cotte's
activity but strongly influenced by Parisian designs of the early I8th
century.

Fig. z . Robert de Cotte, H6tel de Legendred'Armini, Paris, I713,

destroyed, firstproject, ground plan (Est.Va 23 5, 2562; Bibl. nat. Paris).

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

142.

JSAH, XXXIX:2

Fig. 22. Robert de Cotte, H6tel de Caumont, Aix-en-Provence, I714,

ground plan (Est. Va 13, t. 2, 878; Bibl. nat. Paris).

That the free-standing block became a possibility within the

conservative tradition of the h6tel was certainly related to the
generous and regularlyshaped sites which were newly developed
on the western side of Paris.52But ingenious planning was still
frequently required. A case in point was the exceptionally narrow lot (nearly six times as long as wide) on the rue Neuve des
Petits-Champsabove the Place Vendome on which de Cotte laid
out the H6tel de Legendre d'Armini in I7I3.53 The house no
longer exists, but the drawings in the Papiers de Cotte demonstrate that he experimented with differentsolutions to the problem.54 The first plan called for a rectangular structure located
midway down the corridor of space (Fig. zi). The corps-de-logis
was to be entered on axis and experienced in clockwise movement; the main apartmentoccupied the gardenside of the ground
floor. The simplicity of this plan yielded in the second solution to
a more practical arrangementin which the architect extended a
service wing down the right-hand side of the court and moved
the entrance to the stair pavilion on the right. In the definitive
project, illustrated by Blondel, few changes were made in the
plan (the oval vestibule became an octagon) but the decorative

arcades and orders were dropped from the elevation in favor of a

simple sequence of window openings more befitting a modest
house.
A site of equally unusual shape-a square-received a remarkable treatment by de Cotte in I7I4. The h6tel in question, later
called the H6tel de Caumont, was commissioned by Francois de
Tertulle, Seigneurde Reauville, Presidenta la Cour des Comptes
de Provence, and still stands, albeit disfigured,in the aristocratic
district of Aix-en-Provence.55In this instance, de Cotte subdivided the terrain into four sections, one each for the service
wings, court, main block, and garden (Fig. zz). The plan of the
corps-de-logis is not comparable to any of the h6tels discussed
above, but closely resembles a famous maison a l'italienne constructed in Paris a decade earlier,Jean-SilvainCartaud'sMaison
de M. Crozat le jeune.56The house was entered on axis through a
vestibule that merged with the stair chamber;directlybeyond lay
a small court or lightwell. Two complete apartments were situated parallel to the central axis. Cartaud's building contained a
large gallery lying perpendicular to the axis; de Cotte's gallery
was situated en retour, i.e., at right angles to the garden facade, a
disposition much favored by Parisianarchitectsduring the early
i7th century.57
None of the hotels discussed above had so complicated a
history as that of the H6tel du Maine, formerlylocated on the rue
de Bourbon, two houses to the west of Boffrand's H6tel de
Torcy. The land was purchased from Boffrandon 30 May 1716
by Marie-Theresede Bourbon-Conde, Princessede Conti, but it
was de Cotte who drew up the plans a month later.58By I717
Claude Mollet, who was then achieving prominence in domestic
architecture (Hotel d'Humieres, I715; H6tel d'Evreux, 1718),
was at work on the site.59The following year, before the building
was habitable, the princess sold the hotel to her brother-in-law
and sister, the Duc and Duchesse du Maine (27 December 1718).
As the legitimized son of Louis XIV and Mme. de Montespan,
the Duc was showered with honors and favors including the
right of succession to the throne, and naturally became the
enemy of the Regent; their rivalry culminated in the imprisonment of Maine and his wife the very month they purchased the
55. J. Boyer,"Uneoeuvreineditede Robertde Cotte a Aix-en-Provence:L'H6telde Caumont,"Bulletinde la Societede l'Histoirede l'Art

et espace
5 2. I do not agreewiththethesisof F.Vosseo,"Architecture
urbainau XVIIFsiecle:le problemede la distribution,"Les Annales.
Economie,Societe,Civilisation,v, I950, 440-447, accordingto which
the architectof the early I8th centurystill wrestledto a degreecomparableto thatof his 7th-centuryforebearswiththeproblemof creatparcelsof
ingthe illusionof regularityandsymmetryon highlyirregular
land.
53. Formerlylocatedon the presentsiteof 8- 12, ruedes Capucines,

Francais, 1964, 55-67.

near the Place Vend6me. Blondel, Architecturefrancaise, III, II 1-1 13,

de l'Art Francais, 1945-1946, oI-ioz2; M. Rambaud, Documents du

Minutier Central concernant l'histoire de I'art (700-750)o), Paris,
I964,45.

pls. 405-408, givesthe date 1713 and a full descriptionof the house
beforeits alterationin 1749 forM. de Meulan.
54. (I) Early sketches: Bibl. nat. Est. Va 235, 2652, 2653a-d; (2)

Presentation
drawings:Va 235a-c, 2654, 2655a-b.

226-227, Fig. I I.
56. Kalnein,ArtandArchitecture,
57. Forexample,the galleryof FrancoisMansart'sH6tel de la Vrilliere,wherede Cottewas at workduringtheseyears(seefn. 8 above).
Braham and Smith, Mansart, I, 31.

francaise,I,
58. Presently82-84 rue de Lille.Blondel,Architecture
276-279, pls. II3-117;

F. de Catheu, "La Decoration des H6tels du

Maineau FaubourgSaint-Germain,"
Bulletinde la Societede l'Histoire

59. De Catheu, "Maine," 104. On Mollet, see Kalnein,Art and

Architecture, 242-244.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

NEUMAN: TOWN HOUSES OF ROBERT DE COTTE

e6*0-

- e I-I,11.",I
11 .
II%
1%
~ ~-O~ ~''I~~~
~~~1~~~~
~~~~~ ~
~III~I I"Z'~~~~~~~~~~~~~II
~~ ~I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-k

:~

11I

C'PhO#%

i/ &

"
f w
ll'a
/4diw4M

:; ; I:;; I

~, -:

143

".?-?-IIm,ii-

4 4dfa'tt

Fig. 23. Robert de Cotte, H6tel du

deMaine, Paris, I716-I719,

stroyed,gardenelevation(Blondel,
Architecture francaise; Bibl. nat.
Paris).

house.60The Duc's intendant oversaw its completion following

their exile from Paris.
No original drawings for the H6tel du Maine are known.
Because the only visual record of its appearance consists of the
plates published by Blondel, it is difficultto determinethe degree
to which Mollet superimposed his own ideas on the overall
conception of de Cotte. It is assumed that Mollet designed the
wings about the court, and that he greatly altered the court
facade-even in his less ins .d moments the Premier Architecte rarely achieved a design so ungainly.61De Cotte certainly
conceived the general layout of the corps-de-logis, which is an
expanded version of the Hotel d'Estrees, here occupying the
width of the site. The plan is axial, with vestibule and salon on
axis and two appartements opposite each other on the garden
side. Once again the grand escalier is on the left, preceded by a
double vestibule. The arrangement of the upper floor of the
Hotel du Maine is similar to many features of the d'Estrees
house, including the location of the appartement de parade on
the right.
The hand of de Cotte may also be observed in the elevation of
the garden facade (Fig. 23), whose large volume consisting of
two stories and an attic, broken verticallyby three pavilions and
capped by a simple roof, was almost identical to the garden
facade of the Montesquiou house (Fig. i6). In both designs the
emphasis was on the central pavilion with its arcade, wroughtiron balcony, and pediment, while the flourish of sculptural
detail over the windows brought a note of richness to an otherwise restrained performance. The ultimate source for this composition was Hardouin Mansart's garden facade at Meudon,
where the pavilions and the wings between them each consisted
60. J. H. Shennan, Philippe Duke of Orleans, London, 1979, 28-3 I,
43-44.
61. De Catheu, "Maine," 104.

of three bays (Fig. i). This is surely the best example in the
private sphere of the subtle influence of the mentor on his pro-

No comparable designs for town houses were produced by the

de Cotte atelier after 1716.62 But the principlesformulated in the
preceding years did provide ideas which were absorbed into
domestic projects varying in intent from the standard Parisian
house. For example, the h6tel form provided the basis for three
city mansions of the clergy (palais episcopaux) created by de
Cotte, most particularlythe splendid Palais des Rohan in Strasbourg (designed 1727-17z8). These buildings were, however,
differentiated from the h6tels by the incorporation of palatial
devices. The stress on hierarchy in the location and size of the
rooms, and the use of such motifs as the giant order and d6me a
l'imperiale on the exterior, yielded buildings of powerful scale
whose function was principally emblematic and ceremonial.63
62. The so-calledHotelde Robertde Cotte,erectedin 17zz on a site
in the FaubourgSaint-Germain
betweenthe rue de Bourbonand the
river,borderedby theruede Bac,was in factnot anh6telparticulierbut
a complex of three independent flats; see L. Deroy, "L'H6tel de Belle-Isle
et de Robert de Cotte," Bulletin de la Societe d'Histoire et d'Archeologie
des XVIIe et XVe Arrondissements, no. 36, 1937, 77-87. The projects,

neverexecuted,for the h6tel of the Comte de Hanauin Strasbourg

(17z8) were a response to unusual features in the site; A. Weirich,
"L'H6tel de Hanau, contribution a l'histoire des ses origines," Cahiers
Alsaciens d'Archeologie, d'Art et d'Histoire, xi, 1967, 319-332. And
the extremely modest H6tel d'Armagnac (de Brionne) for the Grand
Ecuyer, situated in the Carrousel, adjacent to the Palais des Tuileries,
was probably a collaborative effort with de Cotte's son, Jules-Robert
(1734); Marcel, Inventaire, Nos.

I19-222,

58-59.

63. U. Reinhardt, Die bischoflichen Residenzen von Chalons-surMarne, Verdun und Strasbourg, Basel, 197z; J.-D. Ludmann, "L'Evolution des projets de Robert de Cotte pour le Palais Episcopal de Strasbourg," Bulletin de la Societe de l'Histoire de I'Art Francais, I968
(1970), z3-36; J.-D. Ludmann, "Palace of the Bishops," Apollo,
LXXXXIV, August 197I, 96-I03.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

144

JSAH, XXXIX:2

For the Palais Thurn and Taxis in the free city of Frankfurt
(designed 1727), de Cotte exploited the form of the hotel as a
foil, conferring the status of a private citizen on Prince Anselm,
Postmaster General of the Holy Roman Empire.64The specifically palatial features of the building, such as the salon oval,
were concealed from public view.
In the field of hotel design, as in his work as a whole, de Cotte
was seldom an innovator in the strictest sense of the term. He
added no specific inventions to the art of distribution, having
followed the schemes employed by J. H. Mansart, Lassurance,
and others, and he embraced the late I7th- and early i8thcentury advances in convenience without devising new solutions. Nevertheless, he was a skillful synthesizer who had mastered the repertoryof planning devices. In this perspective, therefore, Louis Hautecoeur's observation that "Robert de Cotte se
preoccupe avant tout de la commodite"65 must be revised, for
the PremierArchitecte was equally committed to representation
and display. His desire to satisfy these varying concerns, clearly
revealed in the hotel plans, is confirmed in a rare commentary
from his own hand justifyingthe layout of a domestic project-a
64. P. du Colombier, L'Architecture francaise en Allemagne au
XVIIe siecle, Paris, 1956, 144; F. Liibbecke, Das Palais Thurn und
Taxis in Frankfurtam Main, Frankfurt, I955.
65. Hautecoeur, Histoire, in, o08.

letter to Prince Anselm in 17z7 accompanying the Thurn and

Taxis drawings. In the document de Cotte explained that the size
and placement of the rooms depended on the status of the patron
as well as on function and ease of circulation.66
If de Cotte possessed a personal idiom, it was most evident in
the elevations. Here again his achievement was a conservative
one: the general formula of the simple rectilinear volume distinguished by reticent end pavilions and a beautifully articulated
frontispiece was drawn from several sources-Mansart, Lassurance, and chateau architecture among them. But in his harmonious compositions, de Cotte succeeded in transforming these
elements, making them lighter and more delicate. Many years
ago, having studied a few engravings of the published houses,
Reginald Blomfield intuitively suggested that, "The elevations of
the earlierdesigns are marked by a straightforwardand dignified
simplicity which convinces me that de Cotte had a manner of his
own."67 The drawings from the Bibliotheque Nationale offer
furtherevidence that Robert de Cotte was a distinguished practitioner of French domestic architecture.
66. Dated8 September1727. Marcel,Inventaire,Nos. 738-739, pp.
207-208; transcribedin full by L. Reau,L'Artfrancaissur le Rhinau
XVIIIesiecle,Paris,1922, 87-88.
67. R. Blomfield, A History of French Architecture... 166I-1774, 2
vols., London, 192z, 11, 51.

This content downloaded from 129.173.72.87 on Fri, 6 Jun 2014 14:46:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions