Hôtel Saint-François, Private mansion in Saint Michel quarter, Bordeaux, France

Hôtel Saint-François is a private mansion in the Saint-Michel quarter, positioned at the intersection of Rue Saint-François and Rue Mirail. Its facades display elaborate decorative details with baroque-inspired elements and balconies supported by ornamental statues.

Antoine Théodore Audubert, a Bordeaux building contractor and not an architect, began this rental block for artisans in 1854 or 1855 on land he owned at the corner of Rue du Mirail and Rue Saint-François, after buying part of the former Hôtel d'Estrades with Jacques and Pierre Videau in 1850. Work finished in 1868 using steel framing and metal suspension rods. The building was classified as a monument historique on 22 May 2013 and its facades and carved parts were restored by autumn 2019.

The building's name comes from its founder: Audubert called it "hôtel de la Perle", and it also opened with a travellers' hotel, café and restaurant alongside the rented flats. The monumental staircase carries carved reliefs staging the progress of architecture, from a dolmen in the cellar to a locomotive crossing a river on a metal bridge at the top floor.

The building stands at the corner of Rue Saint-François and Rue du Mirail, with the wider sixteen-bay facade facing north on Rue Saint-François and the entrance door on the Rue du Mirail side. It is a residential building with about fifty tenants, so the interior staircase is not open to the public; the sculpted facades, balconies and door can be seen from the street.

The building was remarkably advanced for its era, featuring running water and gas lines on every floor. A rooftop laundry facility served tenants, making it an unusually convenient place to live for the 1800s.