Ernest Sanson
Encyclopedia
Paul Ernest Sanson was a French architect trained in the Beaux-Arts manner.
Sanson entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris
at the age of eighteen, and followed the courses offered by Émile Gilbert
. Having received his diploma in 1861, he apprenticed first in the office of Denis-Louis Destors and Charles-Auguste Questel
and then with Antoine-Nicolas Bailly, who passed his practice to Sanson when he retired in 1865. Sanson quickly made a grand reputation among aristocrats and the rich haute bourgeoisie for his château
x and grand Parisian town houses, or hôtels particuliers
. He took into his practice his son Maurice Pierre (1864-1913), Victor-Guillaume Bariller and René Sergent. The firm's offices were successively at 43, rue de Saint-Pétersbourg, 48, rue d'Anjou and 25, rue de Lubeck, Paris.
Sanson distinguished himself with his tasteful residences in the grand manner, which combined the great architectural tradition of French design of Mansart
and Gabriel
, with modern amenities of plumbing, heating, and the discreet separation of owners and guests from the supporting staff. He outclassed his rivals in the field by his deft manipulation of classical architectural vocabulary, and the sureness of his taste during an age characterised by architectural excess.
In 1884, Sanson received the grande médaille d'argent for residential architecture bestowed by the Société centrale des architectes; it was followed in 1908, by the Société's grande médaille d'or. In 1911, he was received a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
In 1861, Sanson married Marie-Caroline Scelles, with whom he had two sons, Maurice Pierre (1864-1913) and Louis Charles (1866-1917).
Outside France Sanson worked in Belgium, New York, Madrid, Washington, Buenos Aires and Córdoba, Argentina.
Sanson entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
at the age of eighteen, and followed the courses offered by Émile Gilbert
Émile Gilbert
Émile-Jacques Gilbert was a French architect.In 1838 Gilbert was commissioned to reconstruct the hospital for the insane at Charenton along modern more humane lines recommended by Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol; the new structure was completed in 1845...
. Having received his diploma in 1861, he apprenticed first in the office of Denis-Louis Destors and Charles-Auguste Questel
Charles-Auguste Questel
Charles-Auguste Questel was a French academic architect and teacher.-Biography:Born in Paris, Questel was a student of Félix Duban at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, and took a second-place Prix de Rome in 1844. He became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1871.Questel...
and then with Antoine-Nicolas Bailly, who passed his practice to Sanson when he retired in 1865. Sanson quickly made a grand reputation among aristocrats and the rich haute bourgeoisie for his château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
x and grand Parisian town houses, or hôtels particuliers
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
. He took into his practice his son Maurice Pierre (1864-1913), Victor-Guillaume Bariller and René Sergent. The firm's offices were successively at 43, rue de Saint-Pétersbourg, 48, rue d'Anjou and 25, rue de Lubeck, Paris.
Sanson distinguished himself with his tasteful residences in the grand manner, which combined the great architectural tradition of French design of Mansart
Jules Hardouin Mansart
Jules Hardouin-Mansart was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the apex of French Baroque architecture, representing the power and grandeur of Louis XIV...
and Gabriel
Ange-Jacques Gabriel
Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the most prominent French architect of his generation.Born to a Parisian family of architects and initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father , whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale at Bordeaux , the younger Gabriel...
, with modern amenities of plumbing, heating, and the discreet separation of owners and guests from the supporting staff. He outclassed his rivals in the field by his deft manipulation of classical architectural vocabulary, and the sureness of his taste during an age characterised by architectural excess.
In 1884, Sanson received the grande médaille d'argent for residential architecture bestowed by the Société centrale des architectes; it was followed in 1908, by the Société's grande médaille d'or. In 1911, he was received a chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
In 1861, Sanson married Marie-Caroline Scelles, with whom he had two sons, Maurice Pierre (1864-1913) and Louis Charles (1866-1917).
Principal architectural commissions
- Anglican chapel Victoria, rue Auguste Vacquerie à Paris (XVIe), in neoclassical style (demolished).
- Château de Menetou-SalonMenetou-SalonMenetou-Salon is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France. Inhabitants of the area are known as Monestrosaloniens.-Geography:The commune is located 16 kilometres North of Bourges on the RD11....
(Cher) : in Renaissance style, inspired by the Palais Jacques Coeur, Bourges. For prince and princesse Auguste d'ArenbergAuguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d'ArenbergAuguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d'Arenberg was a French noble and monarchist politician, born in Paris. Third son of Pierre d'Alcantara Charles Marie, duc d'Arenberg and Alix de Talleyrand-Périgord, he inherited his father's title because of his older brothers' premature deaths.He was noted for his...
, on a site occupied since the Middle Ages (1884-1890) - Château de Chaumont-sur-LoireChaumont-sur-LoireChaumont-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher département in central France.-See also:* Château de Chaumont* Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department...
(Loir-et-Cher) : restorations (1875 or 1885). For the prince de BroglieVictor, 5th duc de BroglieLouis-Alphonse-Victor, 5th duc de Broglie, called Victor de Broglie was a French aristocrat.-Biography:...
. - Château de la Verrerie (Cher) : additions (1892) : For marquis Louis de Vogüé
- Château des Perrais, Parigné-le-Pôlin (Sarthe) : Pavilion and a gallery. For the marquis de Broc.
- Hôpital anglais Hertford, Neuilly-sur-Seine, in Gothic Revival style (1882-1883). For Sir Richard Wallace Currently housing a publicity agency.
- Hôtel d'Arenberg, 20 rue de la Ville l'Évêque, Paris (VIIIe), in Louis XVI style. For prince and princesse Auguste d'ArenbergAuguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d'ArenbergAuguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d'Arenberg was a French noble and monarchist politician, born in Paris. Third son of Pierre d'Alcantara Charles Marie, duc d'Arenberg and Alix de Talleyrand-Périgord, he inherited his father's title because of his older brothers' premature deaths.He was noted for his...
(demolished in the 1960s). - Hôtel Bischoffsheim (or Hôtel de Noailles), 11 place des États-UnisPlace des États-UnisThe Place des États-Unis is a public space in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, about 500 m south of the Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe....
, Paris (XVIe), 1895. Currently the BaccaratBaccarat (company)Baccarat Crystal is a manufacturer of fine crystal glassware located in Baccarat, France. The company owns two museums: the Musée Baccarat in Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Galerie-Musée Baccarat, on the Place des États-Unis in Paris...
showrooms. - Hôtel de Breteuil, 12 avenue Foch, Paris (XVIe), 1902,. For Henry Le Tonnelier de Breteuil. Currently the Irish embassy.
- Hôtel Ephrussi, 2 place des États-UnisPlace des États-UnisThe Place des États-Unis is a public space in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, about 500 m south of the Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe....
, Paris (XVIe), 1886, in Louis XVI taste. For the banker Jules EphrussiEphrussi familyThe Ephrussi family were a Jewish banking and oil dynasty who originated in Odessa, Ukraine. The family were elevated to the nobility by the Habsburg emperor. The family controlled large-scale oil resources in the Crimea and the Caucasus. They had made their initial fortune controlling grain...
. Cuyrrently the Egyptian embassy. - Hôtel de Ganay, 9 avenue George V, Paris (VIIIe), 1896-1898,. For the marquis and marquise de Ganay. Currently the Assemblée permanente des chambres d'agriculture
- Hôtels Maurice et Rodolphe Kann, 49 et 51 avenue d'Iéna, Paris (XVIe), 1897. The first, largely remodeled, serves as the seat of several societies; the second is the Paris seat of the Gulbenkian Foundation. (le premier, très dénaturé, siège de diverses sociétés, le second Fondation Gulbenkian)
- Hôtel de La Ferronays, cours Albert Ier. Renovations for Eugène II Schneider (ca 1901). Currently the Brazilian embassy.
- Hôtel Kessler, 24-26 avenue Raphaël, Paris (XVIe), 1904
- Hôtel de La Trémoille, 1 boulevard Delessert, Paris (XVIe), 1912
- Hôtel Lebaudy, 55-57 rue François Ier, Paris (VIIIe), 1900. (demolished in 1962).
- Hôtel Porgès, 14-18 avenue Montaigne, Paris (VIIIe), 1892 pour Jules Porgès, (demolished).
- Hôtel Schneider, rue d'Anjou, Paris (VIIIe)
- Hôtel de Vogüé, 18 rue de Martignac, Paris (VIIe), 1882-1883 For the comte Arthur de Vogüé. Currently the Commissariat général du plan de Paris
- House at Chantilly (Oise) for the prince de Broglie, in Louis XVI taste, 1905
- Palais Rose (Hôtel Gould-de Castellane), 40 (now 50) avenue Foch, Paris (XVIe), 1895, (demolished 1969).
Outside France Sanson worked in Belgium, New York, Madrid, Washington, Buenos Aires and Córdoba, Argentina.
Selected works outside France
- CarolandsCarolandsThe Carolands Chateau is a 65,000 square foot mansion in Hillsborough, California. Its 75 foot -high atrium holds the record as the largest enclosed space in an American private residence...
, country house at Hillsborough, California. For Francis et Harriet Pullman Carolan (1912-1915). Sanson never visited the site; construction was overseen on-site by the San Francisco architect Willis PolkWillis PolkWillis Jefferson Polk was an American architect best known for his work in San Francisco, California.-Life:He was born in Jacksonville, Illinois and was related to United States President James Polk....
. - Château de Belœil, Belgique : Rebuilding after a fire for Louis, prince de LignePrince of LignePrince of Ligne is one of the most prestigious Belgian noble titles. It goes back to the eleventh century and owes its name at the village in which it originated, between Ath and Tournai. The lords of Ligne belong to the entourage of the Count of Hainaut at the time of the crusades...
(1900) - Perry Belmont House, 1618 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington, D.C.. (1900)
- Palace for the duc de MontebelloDuc de MontebelloThe title of Duc de Montebello was created by the French Emperor Napoleon I in 1808 as a victory title for Jean Lannes, one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals...
, Madrid - Palais Ferreyra, Córdoba, Argentina. For Martin Ferreyra (1916)