Learning from Ledoux

Claude Nicolas Ledoux has always been one of my favorite architects but finding information about him is a struggle. The few books written on him are hard to find and incredibly expensive. The little that is left of his built-work is in France of course so not easy for me to get to. Recently Ashley Hicks had a 2-part talk about Ledoux which you can watch on his Instagram TV (link HERE) showing a few projects I wasn't familiar with.

I learned a few months ago there is a Ledoux Museum at his Royal Saltworks project and Ashley Hicks says he had even stayed there overnight and there is a sort-of hotel on the property. But like many things in France there is little information about this online. Wouldn't that be a fun post-covid trip to plan (whenever that may be).  A bit about the museum on their website HERE.  

image by Jean-Marie Hullot

The altered but still lovely Pavilion of Music designed for Madame du Barry at Louveciennes is one of his few remaining residential projects. On the market for a staggering $50 million Euro you can see the real estate listing HERE with drool worthy photography. 

The little I've seen in person of his work includes the Hotel D'Hallwyll which I snuck into and posted about HERE.   There is some paneling salvaged from the Maison Hosten in Paris circa 1790 at the Getty Museum which I wrote about HERE and you can read more about on their website HERE.

Ledoux's largest built projects was a number of tollhouses surrounding the city of Paris which were built within a wall. Only a number of these survive and each is different.  The images I've shared in this post I took in the Park Monceau  (behind the Musee Nissim de Camondo which I wrote about HERE) where this tollhouse now houses public restrooms. Another has been repurposed into a small museum as the Musee de la Liberation de Paris.

This may seem a rather pointless post but it includes a number of links to websites that I've put together in my own self-education about the work of Ledoux. I think we need a major exhibit of his work (hello Moma) to raise awareness and research on this very modern of architects and city planners.

Learning from Ledoux, Paris

While I organize my photos from last week's trip to Paris and Brussels I thought I would share with you a hotel particulier by Ledoux that I stumbled upon with friends in le Marais.

The last standing private house designed by Ledoux, the Hotel D'Hallwyll also was really the start of his prolific career. Ledoux started this extensive renovation to an older house (designed by Mansart) for the wife of the Comte d'Hallwyll who had inherited the house from her father.

The house now holds 12 apartments and is private but we were lucky to walk by and gain access to the front courtyard.

Located at 28 Rue St-Michel-le-Comte (on the bottom of the plan above) one enters into the entry courtyard. The extensive stables for 18 horses are located on the upper right hand corner with the famous garden on the upper left hand side.

Most of the interiors have been lost over the centuries although the staircase is original and was recently renovated (read more about that HERE with fantastic pictures)

The Neoclassic facades were the most modern of their day. Part of the reason they were so revolutionary is that Ledoux never studied in Rome unlike other architects.  His sometimes rather inventive designs were based on his second hand knowledge from Palladio and Piranesi (in the manner of later post-modernists).

I would think this simple service stairwall (located in the lower right hand corner of the entry courtyard) is also original. Love the ancient limestone floors and bottom treads.

 I also loved these gates separating the courtyard from the street featuring a Greek key pattern.

The street facade has stone rustication which Ledoux based on the (now gone) building located next door. Prior to this time period, extensive stone rustication was generally found on prisons or banks.

As the street is so narrow it's hard to get the full facade in a photograph so below is Ledoux's drawing.

Notice how the rustication is different above the 2nd floor windows than what was built- a change probably made in the field during construction to keep the roof lower.

 Fluted columns frame the entrance gate below a lovely carved stone tympanum.

 Notice the 2 service floor windows are banded together with a larger principal floor on top.

The interior rear garden was the largest innovation by Ledoux, located at the far right of the building section drawing below.  He surrounded the garden with a Doric colonnade much like those found in ancient Roman villas making the house appear much larger than it actually was.

The street behind (Rue Montmorency) was not in existence when the garden was built so a faux colonnade was painted above the rear wall onto the side of a building which no longer exists. Now however the garden benefits from doors directly out onto the street found on either side of the colonnade.

The beauty of walking around Paris is finding gems such as this!