Hôtel de Besenval

The Hôtel de Besenval features a wide, severe stone facade punctuated by a central arched doorway topped with a heavy, carved stone lintel. Baron Pierre-Victor de Besenval commissioned this townhouse in seventeen sixty-seven, hiring the architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart to build it. Besenval was a Swiss officer in the French army who became famous for his scandalous memoirs. Today, the building serves as the Swiss Embassy in Paris, maintaining a quiet, guarded presence behind its high walls and formal courtyard.