Date

Circa 1910

In 1668 Louis XIV bought Trianon, next to the Versailles estate, and commissioned Louis Le Vau to build him a house there. The pavilion, finished in 1670 and decorated with white and blue tiles much like Delftware, became known as the 'Trianon de Porcelaine'. Its gardens, designed by Michel Le Bouteux (d 1688/9), a nephew of André Le Nôtre, became famous for the beauty, variety and scent of their flowers. Le Vau's pavilion deteriorated rapidly, and in 1687 the King appealed to Jules Hardouin Mansart to replace it with a château of white stone and pink marble. The work was completed in a few months, supervised very closely by the King. The building consists of two L-shaped single-storey wings, linked by a marble peristyle with piers of Languedoc and Campanian marble. The façades are articulated by Languedoc marble pilasters.