The History of the Villa, a family story
(Formerly the Château du Pélavé)

The magnificent building was the work of her brother-in-law, the architect Ambroise Baudry, and was supposedly inspired by the Trianon or, perhaps more realistically, is simply a fine example of Victorian style. The architect, who was the husband of Edith’s sister, Fanny, had already acquired a considerable reputation for building sumptuous villas, especially when he lived in Cairo. Prior to this he had been a works inspector on the construction site of Charles Garnier's Opera House, then architect of the Hôtel de la Monnaie in Paris. Ambroise was an artist, architect, painter, engraver, art lover, great collector, traveller and adventurer at heart, and it shows in his creations.

Edith had an ambitious and bold vision for this new villa and was particularly keen to give it a modern Victorian-inspired style. Thus, the building offers all the characteristic features of the great bourgeois houses of the 19th century, including a granite facade, high windows with small panes, balustraded balconies, roof terraces, a square tower, moulded cornices, an œil de bœuf (a kind of circular window) and more. The result was majestic, but also completely comfortable, with its 22 bedrooms, living room, dining room and billiard room. In what was a real innovation for the time, the house was equipped with central heating, electricity and running water! For the garden, Edith imported palm trees directly from Morocco to create a unique palm grove.

Unfortunately, after Edith's death, the château entered a period of decline. Edith’s youngest daughter Marie left the place to settle in Nantes, but her heart always remained with the château, the dream of a lifetime. For years afterwards she would ask the building’s caretakers to make up bouquets of flowers from the garden every week to adorn the place.

Over the years, the château’s fortunes varied. It was requisitioned in 1939 to house people evacuated from the front, then two years later became occupied by the German invaders until the French Forces of the Interior took charge during the Liberation. These successive occupations, however, proved detrimental, resulting in cracks and water damage, as well as looted or damaged furniture and decorations.

The château was later taken over by the parish of Chaillot in Paris, which decided to make it a holiday home, but unfortunately failed to undertake any renovations. It was not until 1955 that new owners decided to bring the building back to life. With a lot of love, patience and kindness, they repaired, restored and reinvigorated the charm of the château by transforming it into a 3-star hotel ... Before long, the Pélavé estate would have more new owners eager to lavish their love upon it; the Arthus Bertrand family.

It was in 1861 that a union between the two families was forged with the marriage of Michel-Ange’s daughter, Marie-Adelina Marion, and Claude Arthus Bertrand. However, it was not until 1889 that Claude sold the publishing house in order to concentrate on the decorations and give his name to this growing company. The successful concern was taken over by the three brothers Claude, Henri and Pierre, then by two of Henri's sons, Benoît and Nicolas.

Collaborating with prestigious artists such as Auguste Bartholdi, Fernand Léger, César, Niki de Saint-Phalle, and Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, among others, manufacturing the first baptism medals in the 1920s, launching the fashion for Roland Garros pin badges, designing the swords for the academicians Charles Picard, Jean d'Ormesson, Yehudi Menuhin and Gérard Oury, creating the Grand Collier de la Légion d’Honneur … With more than a century of existence, the achievements of Arthus Bertrand are numerous and prestigious. Its savoir-faire and Haute Orfèvrerie (high quality goldsmith) ateliers are known and acclaimed the world over.