Situated on the Isle of Saint-Louis in Paris, the Hôtel Lambert is not only a legendary intellectual, cultural and political salon of the Great Emigration, inextricably linked with the figure of Adam Jerzy Prince Czartoryski (1770-1861), but also a masterpiece of classical architecture.

Creators of the Hôtel Lambert
The Hôtel Lambert was designed by Louis Le Vau (1612-1670), one of the leading French architects of Baroque Classicism at the time of Louis XIV. The residence was built between 1640 and 1644 for the financier Jean-Baptiste Lambert de Thorigny (d. 1644), who owned a number of representative estates.

The building had nothing to do with hotels as we understand them today. It was created as a so-called hôtel particulier, or luxury residence, which was a demonstration of the owner's wealth and prestige. In Poland, the nearest equivalent of such a building is a city palace.

The interiors of the Hôtel Lambert were decorated by famous designers and stucco artists of the time, such as Charles Le Brun, François Perrier and Eustache Le Sueur, creating one of the most innovative and iconographically consistent examples of decorative painting in mid-17th century France. The frescoes and stuccowork inside the edifice were created over a period of almost five years, resulting in, among other things, monumental and bold allegorical frescoes alluding to the myth of Heracles.

Some of the works of art originally housed in the Hôtel Lambert ended up in the royal collection and later in the Louvre, where they remain today A unique place was the Cabinet de l'Amour (Cabinet of Love), which in its original arrangement had an alcove for a canopy bed.

In the 1840s, the Marquise du Châtelet and her lover Voltaire used the Hôtel Lambert as their Parisian residence. The Marquis du Châtelet sold the building to Claude Dupin and his wife Louise-Marie, who continued the tradition of intellectual, cultural and political salon on the site. The Dupins were relatives of the writer George Sand, who was a frequent visitor to the mansion. Her meetings in the building with Frédéric Chopin initiated a Polish thread in the history of the Hôtel Lambert, which continued and co-created the atmosphere of the place uninterruptedly for the next 130 years.

Hôtel Lambert and its owners - the Czartoryskis
. Adam Jerzy Prince Czartoryski, known as the "uncrowned king of Poland", bought the property in 1842. The deal was allegedly brokered by Frédéric Chopin and Eugène Delacroix, who persuaded Anna, née Sapieha, the prince's wife, to buy it. Czartoryski could not refuse. As historian Rafał Habielski notes, the 4th district of Paris at the time was one of the worst, so the buyer probably did not overpay for the residence.

The new owner, Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, was a prominent figure of his era. In his youth he was associated with the tsarist court, and was active as an advocate of reform and supporter of Polish independence under the Romanovs. He held the post of Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire and served as a personal advisor to Tsar Alexander I. During the Congress of Vienna in 1815, he became famous as one of the architects of the Polish Kingdom. During the November Uprising (1830-1831), he joined the insurgent authorities, serving as Chairman of the National Government. As a senator, he signed the act dethroning Nicholas I Romanov, for which the Tsar sentenced him in absentia to death by beheading. After the fall of the uprising, Czartoryski fled to France, beginning the émigré phase of his life.

Hôtel Lambert - the centre of Polishness in Paris
. The Paris residence of the Hôtel Lambert became the centre of Polishness on the Seine, serving as the main centre of the Great Emigration and the unofficial embassy of a Poland that did not exist on the map. It was from here that the idea of Polish independence radiated, an idea that the indefatigable Adam Czartoryski did not allow the rulers and societies of his day to forget.

The Hôtel Lambert also served as an outpost of Polish intelligence, managed by the prince's trusted associate, Karol Sienkiewicz. As Adam Czartoryski's personal secretary, Sienkiewicz oversaw a network of agents and informants operating in Europe and beyond. The Hôtel Lambert went down in history not only as a property, but also as a political camp seeking the liberation of Poland.

The residence remained at the same time a cultural salon and a discussion club, hosting many eminent Poles. It was frequented by Fryderyk Chopin (who composed the famous Polonaise with a view to the annual balls held at the residence), Cyprian Kamil Norwid (who is said to have never been refused wine), Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Adam Mickiewicz, Zygmunt Krasiński, Józef Bem - to name just the most important. The Hôtel Lambert also hosted the foreign elite, including Eugène Delacroix, Honoré de Balzac and Franz Liszt. It is no exaggeration to say that this thoroughly Polish house was one of the leading intellectual salons of Europe at the time.

Hôtel Lambert and its successive owners
After the Duke's death in 1861, the building remained in the hands of his heirs. At the turn of the century, the Hôtel Lambert was discreetly divided into several luxury flats for rent. It became the home of influential and wealthy individuals, including Baron de Redé, who rented the ground floor of the building from 1947. De Redé spent time here with his lover Arturo López- Willshaw, who was formally married. Redé and Lopez-Willshaw's parties were among the most celebrated in all of Paris. In 1969, de Redé held his most famous Oriental Ball here, whose guests included: Guy de Rothschild, Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot or Margaret II, Queen of Denmark.

In 1975, the Czartoryski heirs sold the Hôtel Lambert to Baron Guy de Rothschild, whose wife Marie-Hélène de Rothschild was a close friend of Baron de Redé. At the time, it was one of the most famous transactions on the European property market. The sum of the sale was 6 million dollars at the time. In September 2007. Hôtel Lambert changed hands again, being sold to Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, brother of the Emir of Qatar, for the alleged sum of €80 million.

The building, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was in need of extensive renovation as elements of its wooden structure had faded into decay. The new plan to renovate and modernise the building (including plans to install lifts, air conditioning and the construction of an underground car park) caused controversy and protests from historians and conservationists. One historic preservationist stated that the project evokes 'the aesthetics of a James Bond villa'. Former tenant Michèle Morgan, an icon of French cinema, suggested that wealthy clients who want a luxurious, modern 'bespoke' residence should consider a larger site on the outskirts of Paris rather than a historic location bounded on all sides by the Seine. However, Alain-Charles Perrot, the architect responsible for the project, suggested that objections to the redevelopment had a racist context.

After several years of disputes, a settlement was reached between the owners and the Ministry of Culture and the Paris Town Hall, and the redevelopment was authorised under the supervision of the Bâtiments de France, the conservation authority. Work began in 2010. Unfortunately, on 10 July 2013, part of the building was severely damaged by a fire that broke out on the roof during the renovation work. The bathroom with the ceiling frescoes, considered to be a masterpiece, was completely destroyed during the firefighters' action. The frescoes in the Hall of Hercules were also severely damaged.

There were rumours that in the 1970s the Czartoryski family made a favourable offer to the communist government to purchase the property. However, the offer was reportedly rejected. However, it has not been possible to find documents confirming that such talks actually took place. This is a pity, as an embassy of the independent Republic in the Hôtel Lambert would have been the realisation of a great dream of Adam Duke Czartoryski.