Hôtel de Charost

The Hôtel de Charost is a limestone mansion with a prominent, classic courtyard entrance, tucked behind a high wall on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore. Built in the early eighteenth century, it eventually became the home of Pauline Borghese, the sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. She lived here with great flair, even installing a bathroom made of mirrors. After the fall of the empire, the British government purchased the building in eighteen fourteen to serve as the official residence for their ambassadors to France.