Exterior view

The H�tel de la Vrilli�re (which today houses the Bank of France) was artfully sited by Fran�ois Mansart on a triangular plot near the Palais Royal. It had the standard front courtyard framed by three wings, the main one extending into a longer fa�ade overlooking the garden to the rear. Another long wing running along the garden held an orangery on the ground floor and a gallery upstairs. It is a seventeenth-century example of the h�tel particulier.

A Parisian h�tel particulier (urban mansion) was not a palazzo - it was separated from the street by a gateway and courtyard, and overlooked a garden in the back. The street tan along the front only, rather than framing the building on all sides. This overall layout indeed derived from that of châteaux, but the transition from country to town was not made without cost, for urban constraints were considerable.

The photo shows the fa�ade on the rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs.