Château de Malmaison, Empire style château and art museum in Rueil-Malmaison, France.
Château de Malmaison is an art museum and historic residence in Rueil-Malmaison, France, displaying furniture, paintings, and personal objects from the early 19th century. The grounds surround the building with lawns, paths, and a pond where swans swim.
Napoleon and Joséphine bought the estate in 1799 and commissioned Percier and Fontaine to redesign the interiors in the new Empire style. After their divorce in 1809, Joséphine stayed here until her death in 1814, while Napoleon only returned occasionally.
Visitors discover the link between Joséphine's love of plants and the design of the interiors, where botanical motifs appear on wall paintings and fabrics. The name Malmaison comes from a medieval word for bad house, tied to an earlier legend about Vikings.
The entrance is near a parking area, and most ground floor rooms are accessible for wheelchairs. The grounds work well for a quiet stroll in the mornings, when fewer groups are on site.
Joséphine's collection of exotic plants brought botanists from across Europe here, and many species were cultivated for the first time in France in these gardens. The rotunda library holds a hidden compartment in one bookcase, which Joséphine used for private letters.
Location: Rueil-Malmaison
Inception: 1242
Founders: Napoleon III
Architects: Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, Charles Percier Bassant
Architectural style: Empire style
Address: 12 Avenue du château de Malmaison
Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 13:30-17:45; Saturday-Sunday 13:30-18:15
Phone: +33141290555
Website: https://musees-nationaux-malmaison.fr/chateau-malmaison
GPS coordinates: 48.87080,2.16685
Latest update: December 5, 2025 16:33
The castles surrounding Paris provide insight into several centuries of French history. From medieval fortresses to Renaissance palaces to Napoleonic residences, each structure represents different architectural styles and periods. These buildings served as homes for French kings, emperors and noble families, and today house significant collections of furniture, artworks and historical objects. Many are surrounded by extensive gardens and grounds that are also open to visitors. The collection spans a wide geographic area from Versailles to the Loire Valley, offering destinations that range from half-hour to two-hour drives from Paris. Properties like Versailles and Fontainebleau attract millions of visitors annually, while smaller estates like Château de Breteuil or Château de Condé provide quieter alternatives. Some, like Château de Guédelon, offer unusual perspectives on medieval construction methods, while restored sites such as Château de Pierrefonds demonstrate 19th-century interpretations of medieval architecture.
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