Plan of the Hôtel de Jars, Paris

During the period of 1640-45 Mansart built a series of private houses in Paris, some of which survive and some of which are known from engravings. In the H�tel de Jars, begun in 1648, he made an important innovation in planning. The site was narrow, and in order to take full advantage of it he arranged the principal rooms in two parallel ranges, with the staircase at the right-hand end of that on the court side. This freer disposition in depths enables him to give greater variety of shape and size of the rooms and at the same time to arrange convenient access to all of them. It was to be followed in most of the later developments of the h�tel design.

The engraving is from the Petit Marot (c. 1659) by Jean Marot.