Château de la Favorite, Castle in Lunéville, France

The Château de la Favorite is a stone castle at 3 rue Voltaire in Lunéville, built 1730–1734 to plans by Germain Boffrand. Its garden side, facing east, keeps the 18th-century elevation: a three-bay central block between two symmetrical five-window wings, two levels high. The town side was doubled in the 19th century with a square central avant-corps and three levels. Inside, the central block holds an oval salon with stucco decoration.

Duke Leopold I of Lorraine commissioned this small château for his youngest son, Charles-Alexandre. Work began after Leopold's death in 1730 and ended in 1734, following plans by Germain Boffrand and directed by Jean Marchal. Charles-Alexandre, exiled in Vienna from 1736, kept full ownership until his death in 1780; Stanislas Leszczynski sometimes lodged favourites there. In 1780 it passed to Emperor Joseph II, who sold it.

The castle displays French building craft from the early 18th century through harmonious proportions and thoughtful room sequences that become apparent as you move through the spaces. The interior rooms reveal how nobility of that era chose to represent themselves and receive guests.

The château stands at 3 rue Voltaire, about 800 metres south-east of the Château de Lunéville, with its town facade facing west. It is a private building, badly degraded since the early 21st century and ravaged by fire in October 2026, so it is seen from the street rather than visited inside. The former garden to the east is abandoned.

The oval salon d'honneur in the central block carries stucco decoration on two levels: a frieze of eight allegorical scenes with putti above twelve medallions of Roman emperors. The three bays of the salon are topped by medallions bearing the princely monogram, and Charles-Alexandre's cipher is inlaid in the vestibule floor.