BNP PARIBAS
[BNP Paribas logo]

La Maison Dorée

Situé à l’emplacerment de l’hotel Choiseul-Stainville où résida Madame Tallien, le café Hardi céda la place en 1839 à la Maison Dorée, ainsi appelée à cause des balcons qui ornent toujours se façade. Le Tout-Paris de la politique, de la littérature et de la galanterue s’y pressai.. Balzac, Hugo, Nerval, puis Flaubert’ les frères Goncourt en étaient les habitués. En 1853, Alexandre Dumas installa au rez-de-chaussée la rédaction de son journal «Le Mousquetaire».

[Alexander Dumas caricature]

La Maison Dorée accueillit en 1886 la dernière exposition des Impressionnistes. En 1976 la BNP entreprit la restauration de la façade. L’immeuble abrite aujourd’hui, entre autres, des activités de marchés de BNP Paribas.

One of the series of signs describing historical places in Paris. The signs were placed starting in 1992 and are also called sucettes Starck (Starck’s Lollipops) after Philippe Starck who designed them.

The sign describes the place where the restaurant La Maison Dorée (The Golden House) was located, and where the newspaper office of Alexandre Dumas (The Musketeer) was located.

The building was photographed on the same day Click for a larger image

Zooming in on a photo taken that day, you can see the balconies that gave the place its name as well as the symbol of the BNP Paribas bank Click for a larger image Click for a larger image

The illustration in the center of the sign is shown here at magnification Click for a larger image

This sign is different from the other signs in the series: it is not on a pillar, and at the top does not appear the symbol of the municipality of Paris and the inscription Histoire de Paris, but the name of the bank BNP Paribas, which currently owns the building.

Translation of the text on the sign:

BNP PARIBAS
[BNP Paribas logo]

La Maison Dorée
Located on the site of the Choiseul-Stainville hotel where Madame Tallien resided, the Café Hardi gave way in 1839 to the Maison Dorée, so called because of the balconies which still adorn its facade. All of Paris from politics, literature and gallantry flocked there. Balzac, Hugo, Nerval, then Flaubert and the Goncourt brothers were regulars. In 1853, Alexandre Dumas set up the editorial office of his newspaper “Le Mousquetaire” on the ground floor.

[Alexander Dumas caricature]

In 1886, the Maison Dorée hosted the last exhibition of the Impressionists. In 1976 the BNP undertook the restoration of the facade. The building now houses, among other things, the market activities of BNP Paribas.