Maison pompéienne

You are standing near the former site of the Maison Pompéienne, which once occupied numbers sixteen and eighteen on this avenue. Prince Napoleon, a cousin of the emperor, commissioned this extraordinary residence in the mid nineteenth century as a meticulous reconstruction of an ancient Roman villa. He intended the house as a lavish gift for his mistress, the celebrated tragic actress Rachel Felix. Although she passed away before construction was completed, the prince moved forward with his vision, creating a structure so authentic that contemporaries claimed Vitruvius himself would have found no fault in its design.