Hôtel Amelot (1717)

Germain Boffrand (1667–1754), who is often regarded the greatest French architect of the first half of the eighteenth century, designed the Hôtel de Montmorency as a speculator on the rue Saint-Dominique. From the seventeenth century, the lavish houses of eminent or rich people in Paris increasingly became known as hôtels. The hôtel was renamed Amelot after the owner who bought and completed it in 1717. The building is a relatively compact nobleman's townhouse with an ingenious elevation matching the original plan and distribution. The concave shape is a rather unusual feature for the façade of a hôtel. The garden façade is less formal, reflecting the private nature of this area. The plan of the ground floor is at once simple in its organization and intricate in its detailing; every room has its own specific shape in which regularity and symmetry are observed in the placement of windows, fireplaces, and doorways. Every room would have been appropriately decorated, respecting its use and position in the hierarchy in the distribution.