The Hôtel de Lauzun is a 17th-century hôtel particulier, or private mansion, located on the of the île Saint-Louis in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is among the few Parisian hôtels that retain their rich carved, painted, mirrored and gilded interiors from the time of Louis XIV. History The hôtel particulier was not built by the Duc de Lauzun whose name it bears, but by a wealthy financier, Charles Gruyn des Bordes, the son of an inn-keeper grown rich from his trade and richer still, according to at least one pamphleteer, through speculation enabled by his title as general commissioner of cavalry during the civil disorders of the Fronde. Gruyn des Bordes purchased the lot in 1641, but by the time he was prepared to build, he had new neighbours in the Île Saint-Louis to emulate, namely, the Hôtel Lambert de Thorigny. He married Geneviève de Moÿ by a contract signed on 26 April 1657, and she hastened the construction of the house, which was completed near the end of 1659. The architect was Charles Chamois. Gruyn's initial 'G' is interlaced with his wife's'M' on chimneybreasts and throughout the decor. Gruyn, however, had Nicolas Fouquet as a patron and shared in Fouquet's disastrous fall. An inquiry into his financial dealings found him guilty of fraud; he was thrown into prison and died there. His widow, having kept her financial affairs separate from his, survived his ruin and left the hotel to her son. In the meantime, Antoine Nompar de Caumont, Duc de Lauzun, had fallen from Louis XIV's favour and spent a decade in prison. Once he clandestinely wed his lover, La Grande Mademoiselle, she ransomed him from the King and he immediately purchased the building from de Mony's son. Lauzun enriched many of the interiors. The Hôtel de Lauzun passed on to the great-niece of Cardinal Mazarin, who fled from the convent of Chaillot with the Marquis de Richelieu and eloped with him to London. In 1709 the Marquis de Richelieu sold the house to Pierre-François Ogier, who further enriched its interiors. In the 18th century, the Hôtel de Lauzun retained its aristocratic owners (now the Marquis de Pimôdan) until the French Revolution. With that event, the estate, like many of its once-grand neighbours, had its upstairs chambers and attics divided into apartments and rented by successful artisans. In the 1840s, when the building (now known as