House of Madame de Pompadour, Versailles

Madame de Pompadour was King Louis 15th’s mistress and friend for nearly twenty years. She was a lively, intelligent woman who lived in apartments in the Chateau of Versailles, but she also owned l’Ermitage of Fontainebleau, known as the House of Madame de Pompadour.

The house was built in 1753 by Ange-Jacques Gabriel and its square Neo-classical façade, inspired by ancient Greek architecture, became the prototype for the Petit Trianon, which he built nine years later. The house comprises 1.900 square metres of living space and stands in 2.5 hectares of parkland.

Madame de Pompadour lived here during the hunting season from September to March, and as it was a winter residence, each room has its own fireplace. It also has 13 bathrooms – which was unusual for the epoch when bathing wasn’t high on the nobility’s list of ways to entertain itself!

On the ground floor, the entrance hall runs from the courtyard to four reception rooms on the garden side of the building: the Petit Salon, the Grand Salon, the library and the dining room. Also on this side of the house are the kitchen, the butler’s pantry, a powder room, the billiard room and two guest bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

On the upper floor the Master suite comprises a large bedroom, two bathrooms, a sitting room and a study. An entresol landing leads to the guest and children’s wing which has a playroom and nine bedrooms – each with its own bathroom. The other wing housed the servants quarters.

On the grounds there is the caretaker’s house, the stables and a two-storey guest house. A recent addition is the five-car garage.

Since 1919, the house has belonged to the powerful Noailles family, who has made little changes to the place, apart from renovating it in the style set by Madame de Pompadour. The house has been on the market for over a year now for the sum of $9 million.