CH: Tell us about the dining room
walls?
JPM: The walls are hand-painted by
a French artist who specializes in witty
grotesques. They were inspired by Huet
and the Chateau de Chantilly. Each panel
depicts an aspect and period of Pilar���s
and my life. There are monkeys instead of
human figures, with a few small Scottish
terriers, visual stories depicting my studies,
designing, building, landscaping, sports.
CH: What about the exterior, what
about the garden?
JPM: The roses are the infamous ���Molyneux
Rose,��� a breed quite rare and difficult to
grow. The garden contains ligustrinas,
lavandas and hortensias, ��and it is based on
a design by Jacques Andruet de Cerceau
a 17th century �� architect and designer
famous for the grand stairs of Fontainbleu
called ���Fer a Cheval���, on which Napoleon
resigned after his first defeat.
CH: What can you tell us about the
facade?
JPM: The exterior of the Hotel Particulier
reflects the influence of the Italian arts in
architecture, being the garden facade more
early renaissance and austere, and the
court facade has a more pre neoclassical
rhythm. this building was built in 1619, by
the architect of the Guise family, Soulignac.
HYLAND
