Exterior view

Pierre Cailleteau, called Lassurance, was the most important pupil of Hardouin-Mansart. In the first decade of the eighteenth century he built a series of houses in which the new tendencies developed. Several of these have the long low elevations which were first introduced Houdouin-Mansart, all have a freedom of planning, which is derived partly from Hardouin-Mansart, and partly from Pierre Bullet.

Lassurance’s first private building was the H�tel de Rothelin, begun c. 1700; this was followed in 1704 by the H�tel Desmarets (destroyed 1800); both exemplify the desire for simplicity and convenience that characterizes Parisian architecture at the beginning of the 18th century. In each case, a single longitudinal axis divides the ground-plan into two symmetrical halves, starting at the entrance portal on the street and continuing across the courtyard into the corps de logis. In the main block, the paired vestibule and salon on this axis separate the principal apartments which lie to left and right. The court and garden elevations are typical of Lassurance’s style, insofar as the classical orders are used only on the central pavilions, and the tall, narrow windows have become the salient motifs.

The photo shows the fa�ade on the rue de Grenelle.