Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, Private mansion in 7th arrondissement, France

The Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour is a single-storey hôtel particulier at 142 Rue de Grenelle, built from 1704 by architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair for Abbé Pierre Hélie Chanac de Pompadour. Its sober neoclassical facade, rare for its time, fronts a cour d'honneur and a large English landscape garden in the entre cour et jardin layout. The principal reception rooms sit on the ground floor.

The residence was built in the early 1700s for Abbé Pierre Hélie Chanac de Pompadour and went through several changes of ownership that shaped its structure. In the 20th century, it was recognized as a protected monument and later adapted as an embassy building.

The interior preserves decorative elements from the 18th century, including painted ceilings in the dining room and bedchambers of this aristocratic residence. The rooms show how the upper classes lived and designed their homes during that era.

The building now houses the Swiss Embassy and is not open to the public except on special occasions. Visitors can view it from outside and may participate in guided tours when offered during annual heritage events.

In the basement, architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart built a nymphaeum, a hall-like bath modelled on antiquity, decorated by sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion, with reliefs of erotic scenes now in the Louvre. Rumours of amorous adventures there spread, yet the cellar was ice-cold and the basin was reportedly used only once, by a Swiss Guard soldier who died of pneumonia days later.