Exterior view

One of the most significant of the city palaces in the first half of the seventeenth century in Paris is the H�tel Lambert on the Île St-Louis. Le Vau used a completely new layout here which reflected the narrowness of the site: instead of siting the garden along the portal-courtyard-accommodation axis, he moved it to the right, close to the ‘cour-d’honneur’. The latter, with cut-off corners, opens onto a monumental staircase which, flanked by oval hallways, leads into the gallery which is laid out sideways and is interposed between the garden and open ground.

The decoration of the fa�ade combines French elegance and monumental Roman features. Doric orders superimposed on Ionic are used on the courtyard fa�ade and a continuous entablature runs right across the wings. The dominant motif is provided by the stepped entrance with its pediment and free-standing Doric columns at ground-floor level.

The picture shows the courtyard fa�ade.

View the ground plan of the H�tel Lambert, Paris.