The Centre

Belle Époque architecture

In 1878, Earl Laurent-Charles-Arthur of  Vogüé purchased a 980m² plot of land on rue de Martignac. An artist with great taste, Earl Laurent-Charles-Arthur approached Ernest Sanson and asked him to build a residential house on the land.

The cooperation between the well-educated amateur and the experienced architect lead to a remarkably dignified building representing the architecture of the second half of the 19th century. Its plan and designs were published in the "L’Architecture", a magazine from 1890, because of the building’s remarkable features.

Ernest Sanson, an inspired architect

Ernest Sanson was born in Paris on May 12th 1836 and died in Paris on January 15th 1918. Sanson matricualted at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of 18 and studied under Jacques Gibert. He obtained a diploma in architechture in 1861.

Sanson’s distinctive style can be found in elegant residential buildings that are inspired by the best classical models while at the same time preserving a comfortable and furnished modern layout. At a time when others were building residences that were closer to travellers’ hotels, he outclassed his rivals through the elegance of his style and his perfect taste. 

Sanson received the “grande médaille d'argent” (silver medal) in 1884 for residential architecture bestowed by the “Société centrale des architectes”. He then received the “grande médaille d'or” (gold medal) in 1908. In 1911, he was made a “chevalier de la Légion d'honneur” (knight of the Legion of Honour).

Illustrious owners

After the First World War, Arthur de Vogüé's former town house became the property of Earl Pierre-Joseph-Augustin de Montaigu who married Marie-Louis-Caroline de Wendel. It was his wife who bequeathed the property to the State in 1928.

From that time on it housed the Secretariat of the Ministry of War and then the State Planning Commission in 1946 with Jean Monnet as the first to occupy the “indefinable position of the Planning Commissioner”. Since 2006 it has housed the “Centre d’analyse stratégique”.