Hôtel de Ville, Les Lilas

The town hall of Les Lilas owes its grand appearance to a specific moment of local ambition. When the commune was established in eighteen sixty-seven, the young municipal council initially met in rented offices, including a private house on the Rue de Paris. By the eighteen eighties, the town leaders decided their growing population deserved a permanent, monumental home. They commissioned architect Paul Héneux to design this neoclassical building, which was officially inaugurated in eighteen eighty-four. Its design was so successful that Héneux was later asked to construct an almost identical twin building in the town of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.