Hôtel de Castries

The Hôtel de Castries stands out for its curved wrought-iron balcony and the heavy, studded carriage doors that seem to swallow the street noise. Built in seventeen hundred, this private mansion served as the residence for the Duke of Castries, a man who served as Minister of the Navy under King Louis the Sixteenth. After a massive fire tore through the upper floors in eighteen sixty-seven, the Duke spent his own fortune to restore the gilded paneling and marble staircases exactly as they were.