Dilapidated beauty

An hôtel particulier was a type of noble residence especially common in Paris before the Revolution. Its typical limestone street façade had a gate, a wall, and the ends of two side wings; behind the gate would be the entrance court with the main block of the mansion at the back. Most of the remaining hôtel particuliers are government ministries, museums, embassies, or apartment buildings; almost all, concentrated in the 7th and 8th districts, are restored and reasonably-maintained.

The dilapidated state of this hôtel's street front was hence quite striking. Crumbling plaster still covered the limestone, and yet I could see that the rest of the hôtel around the courtyard behind had been cleaned up. I imagine that at some point during the early 20th century, before the major program of Parisian façade polishing c. 1950s--60s, much more of Paris looked like this.