Ancienne Folie Saint-James

The Folie Saint-James stands as a monument to one man's obsession with outdoing his rivals, regardless of the cost. Its creator, the financier Claude Baudard de Saint-James, famously commanded his architect to build whatever he pleased, provided only that the result was sufficiently expensive. He was engaged in a fierce competition with the Count of Artois to see who could build the most extravagant pleasure garden in the region, and this site was his answer.