The Eighteenth-Century Hôtel Particulier

Abstract This article examines discussions of Parisian hôtels particuliers (townhomes) in eighteenth-century texts on architecture and mœurs (mores). It focuses on how exterior decoration was used to comment on the social order and on the relationship between public and private and shows how both were undergoing transformations in the eighteenth century. Exterior decoration meant to indicate the rank of the inhabitant was increasingly obscured by the practices of the wealthy, regardless of rank. The exterior of the townhome was a visible boundary between public (the street) and private (the home); it was also the entrance to residences that often combined private and public functions. Luxury townhomes housed government officials, some of whom bought their public offices. On the Right Bank, many townhomes were built by financiers, who lent privately held funds to the state. In written texts, multiple concerns about the instability of status and wealth focused on townhomes. These texts played a role in the articulation of a public realm completely differentiated from private ownership.