Hôtel Baudard de Saint-James

The Hotel Baudard de Saint-James features a facade covered in a dense, formal arrangement of pilasters and carved stone panels. Claude Baudard de Saint-James commissioned this townhouse in seventeen seventy-five, intending to display his immense wealth as a royal treasurer. He famously installed an ornate clock in the garden that triggered a fountain display whenever a specific carriage arrived. He eventually faced accusations of embezzlement, and the building passed through various hands, including an American diplomat who later served as a secretary of state.