The scenery of Rambouillet in 1950

 

A royal, imperial and, from 1895, presidential residence, Rambouillet Castle was transferred to the management of the Centre des monuments nationaux in 2009, to ensure it remained open to the public. In 2018, the decision by the Office of the President of the Republic to leave the estate permanently marked a new chapter for the château, which is now open to visitors in its entirety. A partnership with the Mobilier National was therefore established to refurnish certain areas: first the apartment of Emperor Napoleon I, the first major interior restoration project, followed by several rooms furnished in an avant-garde style under the first President of the Fourth Republic, Vincent Auriol (1947–1954), much of whose furniture had been lying dormant in the Mobilier National’s storerooms. This presented a wonderful opportunity for the Centre des Monuments Nationaux to reopen the château, revitalised by the chic and modern design of the 1950s.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Rambouillet Castle was an empty shell. Although it had suffered more damage from the occupation by the US army following the Liberation than from the German Wehrmacht officers, much of its furniture had been removed during the war. At the end of the war, therefore, a major refurnishing project was launched by the Mobilier National and its director, Georges Fontaine: as well as the need to restore a certain presidential dignity to the site, the aim was to support contemporary art through prestigious commissions and to promote a revival of the decorative arts. André Arbus, Raymond Subes, Jacques Adnet and others thus played a part in the rebirth of the Château de Rambouillet, and even more so in enhancing France’s reputation in the arts.

Vincent Auriol, although of humble origins, was an aesthete: his personality, and that of his wife Michelle, played a decisive role in the choice of interior designers and the furnishing of their residences. Long before the Pompidou couple, the Auriols therefore steered commissions – both at Rambouillet and at the Élysée – towards a more modern aesthetic: whilst they entrusted the main commissions to established interior designers such as André Arbus or Raymond Subes, they were also keen to collaborate with the rising stars of the time, such as Suzanne Guiguichon, Jeanne Blanche Klotz-Gilles and Genès Babut. As collectors of modern art, the Auriols also acquired sculptures by Germain Richier and Marcel-Antoine Gimond, as well as paintings by Raymond Legueult, for Rambouillet; these blended harmoniously with the Sèvres porcelain and^18th-century clocks.

Alongside the commissions issued by the Mobilier National, major modernisation works were carried out on the château to transform this country house into a comfortable residence, befitting the guests it would soon be hosting. The architect Jean Desmarets was thus commissioned to install en-suite bathrooms in all the bedrooms and to fit out a separate ‘studio’ for foreign heads of state and distinguished guests, comprising two bedrooms, one above the other, in the medieval tower – one for Monsieur, one for the lady, at the heart of a beautifully appointed lounge designed by Jacques Adnet.

 

 

The château must indeed meet the requirements of diplomacy and official receptions, whilst retaining its warm and intimate atmosphere. Although modest in size, Rambouillet is appreciated for the close relationship the President can maintain with his guests. He comes here not only to work, entertain and hunt, but also to spend time with his family, at Christmas or during the summer. Close to Paris and nestled in the heart of a vast estate, it also has the advantage of being easily accessible yet secluded enough to allow for relaxation away from prying eyes. Rambouillet thus has everything it takes to become one of the new President’s favourite residences.

It is the château’s cutting-edge furnishings that set it apart. In the style of 1930s ocean liners, each space has been entrusted to an interior designer: André Arbus and Raymond Subes for the grand reception room on the garden level, as well as for the grey bedroom on the first floor of the medieval tower; Jacques Adnet for the studio for visiting heads of state; Genès Babut for the First Lady’s bedroom; Suzanne Guiguichon for the guest bedroom in the presidential suite, Jeanne-Blanche Klotz-Gilles for the so-called Secretary-General’s flat, and Pierre Lucas for the guest bedrooms. Each space is profoundly different: the bold, futuristic forms of Suzanne Guiguichon give way to the neo-Renaissance lines of Arbus’s cut-out leatherwork. This succession of distinct spaces reinforces the ‘ocean liner’ feel of this new residence: after climbing the staircases leading to the various ‘decks’, one walks along corridors shaped like gangways that lead to the various guest rooms, fitted out like cabins, with low ceilings and almost built-in furniture. It is a veritable journey on which the guests are invited to embark.

 

 

Each room is designed as a cohesive whole. The interior designers conceive the overall décor and collaborate with bronze casters, metalworkers and gilders. In the ‘Madame’s Room’, for example, intended for the wife of the visiting foreign head of state, Genès Babut devises a complete scheme, from the aubergine-coloured carpet to the design of the rug woven by the Aubusson factory, including the satin drapes between the windows and the bedspread, right down to the mirror frame. The entire set of furniture, in lacquered sycamore, is punctuated by bronze pieces crafted by Louis Leygues: rings on the drawers and removable lock covers in the shape of faces. This bedroom, with its soft, satiny tones – the feminine counterpart to the Neo-Renaissance bedroom above – epitomises neoclassical elegance and refinement.

All the decorative elements are designed with the space in mind: the furniture fits the room’s proportions perfectly and blends seamlessly with the panelling; the marquetry on Jean-Charles Moreux’s bookcase alludes to the château’s Renaissance past, whilst the hunting motifs on Pierre Lucas’s furniture evoke the surrounding forest and the hunts that take place there.

 

 

Despite the supply difficulties in post-war France, the interior designers vied with one another in ingenuity to create the most beautiful and graceful pieces, reviving the tradition of French decorative arts. Suzanne Guiguichon covers her cherry wood furniture with parchment, transforming a native wood—which is relatively easy to source—into a luxurious and unique object. Pierre Lucas used a light-coloured wood, lemon tree, playing upon the wood’s grain to bring it to life, whilst Genès Babut lightly stripped away the gilding to reveal the essence of sycamore. Such a degree of refinement contrasts with the mass-produced furniture developed at the time by Charlotte Perriand or Jean Prouvé to meet the needs of the post-war reconstruction. The commissions from Rambouillet thus represent the final flourish of a prestigious policy of one-off furniture, where quality matters more than price.

 

 

Fancy visiting the château? 

 ‘The Château de Rambouillet given a facelift for its guests of honour’, Plaisir de France, March 1954

The Mobilier National and the Gobelins and Beauvais National Manufactories under the Fourth Republic: Commissions and Purchases, exhibition catalogue, 1997, Beauvais: National Tapestry Gallery

An Art of the State? Public Commissions for Visual Artists (1945–1965), exhibition catalogue, National Archives, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, 2017, Paris: National Archives; Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes

Chic! French Decorative Arts and Furniture from 1930 to 1960, Mobilier National exhibition, Galerie des Gobelins, 2022, Paris: Snoeck Gent / Mobilier National

A short journal of the exhibition ‘Rambouillet 1950. Inside the President’s Private Life’, Château de Rambouillet, 2023

Fabien Oppermann, In the Castles of the Republic: Power Hidden from View, 2019, Paris: Tallandier