Hôtel de Brienne
historic building in Paris, France
The Hôtel de Brienne (French pronunciation: [otɛl d(ə) bʁijɛn]) is an 18th-century hôtel particulier (a type of townhouse) at 14 Rue Saint-Dominique in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It serves as the official residence of the Minister of the Armed Forces.
It was built in 1724 to the designs of the architect François Debias-Aubry for François Duret, a real estate entrepreneur, who was also president of the Grand Conseil. In 1726 Duret sold it to Françoise de Mailly (widow of Louis Phélypeaux, Marquis de La Vrillière), who allowed her son, Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Saint-Florentin to stay on the upper floor (premier étage). Françoise sold it to Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, Princesse de Conti in 1733, and it became known as the Hôtel de Conti. It was sold to Athanase Louis Marie de Loménie, comte de Brienne in 1776, when it acquired its current name. Laetizia Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother (Madame Mère), lived here during the First French Empire, and Charles de Gaulle used it as his office at various times during the Second World War. It is currently occupied by the French Ministry of Armed Forces's ministerial cabinet.
History
The Hôtel de Brienne was constructed during the reign of Louis XV, in 1724; it was built by François Debias-Aubry for François Duret, the President of the Grand Conseil. Duret was a friend of the Marquise de Prie, mistress of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (Prime minister of France and another Prince of the Blood).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hôtel de Brienne” is historic building in Paris, France. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hôtel, Brienne and historic, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “historic building in Paris, France” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3145768. VIAF identifies the subject as 294933487. The Library of Congress control number is no2013052362. Authority coordinates are 48.860, 2.319. 1 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1724, 1726, 1733 and 1776.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hôtel de Brienne”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hôtel de Brienne primary sources, Hôtel de Brienne archive and Hôtel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Hôtel de Brienne” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.