Receive in the manner of the Empress at Château of Malmaison !

Imperial and sumptuous setting but surprisingly intimate and not devoid of a formidable perfume of romanticism, the Château of Malmaison lends itself to multiple configurations for the organization of events that will leave your guests under the charm of Josephine's parties.

• Seated meals for up to 50 people in the Empress' dining room, characteristic of the Pompeian style with its harmonious dancers and refined colors;
• cocktail party for up to 100 people by combining the majestic vestibule and the dining room;
• meeting or concert in the music room where we find some paintings of the collection of Josephine as well as the harp of the empress and the piano of the queen Hortense, her daughter.
• Reception in the garden: of the 700 hectares of the original park, only 6 hectares remain today, but you can still find a concentrate of the sweetness of life where the operetta river, the pavilions, the rose garden and the lawn blend harmoniously. Among other curiosities, one can see the famous cedar planted by Josephine to celebrate the victory of Marengo in 1801...

There are probably few comparable venues , which offer a palpable possibility to enter the intimacy of a historical character.

The Château of Malmaison, place of pleasure and power

Any evocation of Château of Malmaison is inseparable from that of the Empress Josephine, one of the most endearing personalities in French history. Malmaison is also the setting where a passionate love blossomed which, over time, became an infinite tenderness and an unfailing friendship, the one that Napoleon had for his entire life with the beautiful creole. Today, a few kilometers from Paris, it is an enchanting place, with a refined decoration, where every detail reminds its illustrious owners. Restored to its original state, one feels, as soon as one crosses the threshold, a special atmosphere, unique in a national historic monument. As if Josephine and Napoleon were about to return from a walk.

In the spring of 1799, when Josephine Bonaparte visited the house, she fell under the spell of this classical château built in the 17th century on the remains of an ancient manor house and immediately understood that she could make its walls her refuge. Once they became owners, Bonaparte and Josephine decided to carry out important works and called upon the young architects Percier and Fontaine, who first proposed to replace the old house by a neo-classical villa. Faced with the size of the expense, the First Consul forced them to restore the existing château . The two architects, trained at the French Academy in Rome, were specialists in theater decor. By tearing down walls and partitions, installing false columns, multiplying the play of mirrors and inspirations from Antiquity, they gave the small, somewhat obsolete château a completely different appearance, worthy of its new stature as a place of power (between 1800 and 1802, Malmaison was, along with the Tuileries, the seat of the French government), of brilliant receptions and memorable parties.

For history lovers...

Empress Josephine's kingdom

In 1802, Bonaparte moved to Saint Cloud and Malmaison regained some of its quietude, but Josephine's affection was not lost. She saw this house as her own private property, the one she preferred to any other residence and which she never ceased to embellish over the years with the help of the best craftsmen of her time to make it her own little paradise.

Empress Josephine was the most elegant of all sovereigns at the beginning of the 19th century. Her toiletries were scrutinized and copied in all the European courts. She spent lavishly and in doing so contributed to the promotion of the textile industry and the French art of living.

An enlightened art lover, a wise collector and a passionate lover of the decorative arts, Josephine modeled her residence in her own image: a place emblematic of the Directoire and Empire styles, Malmaison was transformed into a charming, wildly elegant and extremely refined setting. The development of the park, both a space for experimentation and a marvelous pleasure garden, was Empress Josephine's major undertaking. A botanical enthusiast, she collected shrubs and exotic plants, corresponded with English nurserymen and specialists from the Museum of Natural History, and kept abreast of expeditions to distant lands, always on the lookout for a specimen.

This garden, which also contains a large number of exotic animals, was one of the most beautiful in France at the time. And of course it is here that one can admire his famous collection of roses composed of more than 250 varieties of flowers. Josephine was unable to give a child to Napoleon, and their divorce, which she had feared all her life at court, was pronounced in December 1809, without them ceasing to love each other. The ex-empress retired to Malmaison, where she simplified the etiquette, but continued to lead a high life and to receive the artists and personalities of her time. She died there in May 1814 at the age of 50 from a cold.

Napoleon made a pilgrimage to Malmaison on his return from Elba and stayed there for a few days just before his exile to St. Helena.1861, Josephine's grandson, Napoleon III installed the first museum of the Consulate and the Empire which closed in 1870. After many vicissitudes, the château was bequeathed to the State in 1904 by the philanthropist Daniel Osiris and the museum reopened its doors in 1906.