Château de la Muette

Château de la Muette stands on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. The château combines an architectural setting with a long succession of royal and institutional roles. Today, the building houses the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Three châteaux have occupied this site since the sixteenth century. The first grew from a hunting lodge associated with Princess Marguerite de Valois, daughter of King Henry II. Louis XV later extended and rebuilt the residence. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived in the second château, linking the grounds directly with France’s royal history. The earlier building was demolished during the 1920s, making space for new structures including Henri James de Rothschild’s château.

The present building was completed in the early twentieth century and continues the site’s architectural succession. From these grounds, the first manned hot-air-balloon flight began in 1783. That detail gives the wooded Parisian setting an unexpected connection with the beginnings of human flight.