Hôtel Mezzara
Guimard built it for a friend, a maker of lace — and worked his whip-line ornament through every room.
At a glance
The Hôtel Mezzara is an Art Nouveau townhouse at 60 rue Jean de La Fontaine, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It was built in 1910–1911 by Hector Guimard, the architect of the Paris Métro entrances, for Paul Mezzara, a textile industrialist and lace designer of Venetian origin. The two men knew each other through the Société des artistes décorateurs, of which both were officers. The house is one of Guimard’s most complete surviving interiors, conceived as a showcase as much as a home.
Key facts
- Architect: Hector Guimard
- Built: 1910–1911
- For: Paul Mezzara, textile and lace maker
- Address: 60 rue Jean de La Fontaine, 16th arrondissement
- Decorators: Léon Jallot, Edgar Brandt, Paul Follot
- Protection: listed 1994, classified monument historique 2016
History
Paul Mezzara, of Venetian descent, sat alongside Guimard among the officers of the Société des artistes décorateurs, and it was probably there that the commission was born. He intended the house partly as a place to exhibit and sell his fabrics, and had its rooms decorated by leading craftsmen of the Belle Époque, among them Léon Jallot, Edgar Brandt and Paul Follot. He lived in it for only about two years.
In 1930 the house passed to the Lacascade sisters, who turned it into a private school, and in 1956 it was ceded to the French state. For decades it served as an annexe of the Lycée Jean-Zay, housing girl boarders, a role it kept until 2015.
Listed among the monuments historiques in 1994 and classified in 2016, the building was restored in 2005 and has since been opened periodically for exhibitions, notably by the Cercle Guimard, the association founded in 2003 to defend the architect’s legacy.
What you see
The street facade is restrained for Guimard, its ornament concentrated around the openings and the ironwork. The drama is inside: a central hall rises through the house under a stained-glass skylight, ringed by a gallery whose railings flow in the architect’s unmistakable whiplash curves.
Because Guimard designed the fittings as well as the shell, the Mezzara survives as a rare chance to read his complete decorative system in one place, from banister to light fitting.
Practical information
- The house is not a regular museum; access is occasional, for exhibitions and heritage events.
- Check the Cercle Guimard and Heritage Days (Journées du patrimoine) for openings.
- The facade can be seen from rue Jean de La Fontaine at any time.
- Time needed: an hour when open.
Getting there
The house is on rue Jean de La Fontaine in Auteuil, a few minutes from the Jasmin and Michel-Ange–Auteuil metro stations on line 9 and the RER C at Av. du Président Kennedy.
Nearby
- Castel Béranger, Guimard’s breakthrough block, on the same street.
- Other Guimard buildings in the Auteuil district.
- The Maison de Balzac and the Seine quays.
Sources
- Wikipedia (FR), “Hôtel Mezzara”.
- French Ministry of Culture, base Mérimée (monument historique).
- Cercle Guimard documentation.
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