François Le Vau (1624 – 4 July 1676) was a French architect and a founding member of the Académie Royale d'Architecture (established in 1671). He is also known for being the youngest brother of the more famous French architect, Louis Le Vau. Early life and training Born François Le Veau, he was the youngest son of Louis Le Veau, a mason who died in February 1661, and Étiennette Louette, who died in December 1644. In the late 1630s and early 1640s, François trained with his older brother Louis, and both brothers worked together with their father, building houses on the Île Saint-Louis. In 1638 his brother Louis changed the spelling of his surname to Le Vau to avoid the lower-class stigma of "Le Veau" ("the calf"). François followed suit several years later. All his life François worked in the shadow of his brother Louis, who was very successful, becoming Premier Architecte du Roi after the death of Jacques Lemercier in 1654. Early career François Le Vau is described as "architecq Ingenieur du Roy" in 1648, suggesting he may also have been involved in designing fortifications. He began working more independently of his brother around the time of the Fronde (1648–1653), when he became an architect in the Bâtiments du Roi and the architect of a participant in the Fronde, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier. He designed her apartments in the Tuileries Palace (before 1652; destroyed); remodeled the interior courtyard and her apartment in her Château de Saint-Fargeau (1652–1657; restored after a fire in 1752), where she resided during her exile; and later remodeled her apartments in the Palais du Luxembourg (1662; destroyed). He also worked for other Frondeurs, "supporters of the losing side who were slipping into political obscurity." He designed and added apartments for the townhouses of Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully (Hôtel de Sully; 1651); Louis de La Rivière ( on the Place Royale; 1652); and Armand-Charles de la Porte, Duke of La Meilleraye (in the , begun 1654; destroyed). He also designed for high-level government officials: for Jérôme de Nouveau, Grand Maître des Postes, he rebuilt the (1654–1660); for Charles-Henry de Malon, he designed the Château de Bercy (after 1658–c. 1668; destroyed during the Second Empire); for Charles de Sainte-Maure, Duke of Montausier, he made modifications to the Château de Rambouillet (begun 1659); and for Louis de Rochechouart, he created the Montpipaux project. He