Berton des Balbes de Crillon Hotel

Construction of the hotel began in 1648 for Louis III de Berton (1608–1695), Baron of Crillon, Lord of Saint-Jean-de-Vassols, Colonel General of the Papal Artillery, on the site of the cardinal’s estate belonging to Bertrand de Deaux, Archbishop of Embrun and later a cardinal. The last occupant of the estate was Martín de Zalba (d. 1403), Bishop of Pamplona and cardinal, after whom the estate was named. The estate subsequently became the property of the Berton de Crillon family. On September 10, 1648, Louis III de Berton contracted out the demolition and reconstruction of his residence to two master masons from Avignon, Jean and André Bontoux, based on a design by “Dominique Bourbon,” an Italian named Domenico Borboni. Construction was completed in July 1649. Domenico Borboni was originally from Bologna and lived in Avignon between 1645 and 1663. In one document, he is described as an “excellent painter.” He worked more as a decorator than as an architect in Avignon. Two other contracts were signed: on October 22, 1648, with master carpenter Jacques Planche, for the windows on the facade; and on December 7, 1648, with carpenter Jean Suchet, for the demolition and repair of the roof and floors of the house. In the first contract, for the facade decorations, Louis III de Berton planned to have them executed and paid for separately. Joseph Girard wondered who had created them and noted that in two cost estimates, the Avignon-based sculptor Jean-André Borde had signed as a witness. He assumed that this was likely the sculptor responsible for the carved decorations, the fireplace, and the exceptional “Imperial-style” staircase. There is no evidence to determine whether he was the designer or whether he merely reproduced the drawings of the architect Domenico Borboni, who was also known as a decorator. All commentators on this mansion have emphasized its Italian character. André Hallays, in his description of the mansion, notes that “all the ornaments of the late Renaissance are gathered here,” which suggests a certain architectural lag compared to what was being built in 1648. In 1660, between January 12 and 14, the Duchess of Montpensier, known as “La Grande Mademoiselle,” stayed at the Hôtel de Crillon and found the building “very beautiful, built and painted in the Italian style.” She returned there on March 19, 1660, during Louis XIV’s stay in Avignon, and remained there until April 1660. In 1693, a chapel was built inside the mansion by the stonemason Pierre Thibaut based on plans by Pierre Mignard. The barony of Crillon was elevated to a duchy on September 27, 1725, by Pope Benedict XIII in favor of François Félix de Berton des Balbes de Crillon. As the Crillon family was in favor at the French court, they celebrated all the monarchy’s festivities at their mansion. Members of the royal family or high-ranking French dignitaries passing through Avignon stayed at the Hôtel de Crillon; for example, the Princess of Conti in May 1730, and the Duke of Richelieu, commander of Languedoc, spent the evening and attended a ball there on May 12, 1741. In 1744, the Prince of Conti: “On the said day, March 13, 1744, between two and three o’clock in the afternoon,” as recorded in one of the graduation registers of the University of Avignon, “His Highness Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, arrived by boat in this city and took up lodgings in the house of the Duke of Crillon. The prince departed on the 14th of the said month at nine o’clock in the morning, and set out for Provence to command François’s army, which was to enter Italy,” the Count of Provence on July 12, 1777, the Duke of Cumberland, brother of the King of England, who had come to the South of France to restore his health, settled in Avignon, where on October 25, 1784, accompanied by his wife, he took up residence under the title of Count of Dublin. He checked into the Hôtel de Crillon and found light cavalry on foot and a detachment of the garrison forming a guard of honor at the door, on the staircase, and in the salons. The duke and duchess spent the entire winter of 1784 and nearly the entire following year there; then, having been cured by the famous Avignon physician Joseph Gastaldy (1741–1805), the duke returned to England, etc. The Hôtel de Crillon was seized relatively late during the Revolution, as the Duke of Crillon-Mahón, a Grandee of Spain—even though he often resided outside France and had entered the service of Spain—was not immediately considered an émigré. The Hôtel de Crillon was used for various administrative and judicial purposes. It served as the venue for meetings of the Commission of Inquiry into the murder of Lescuyer and the Glacière massacre. The mission representatives Rebecqui and Bertin stayed there in 1792. The land registry office was established there in Year III. The hotel was then returned to the heirs of the Duke of Crillon-Mahón, who sold it. It was purchased by Messrs. Jean Joseph Ignace Louis Thomas; Hyacinthe Paul Boulard, notary; Joseph Véran Deleutre, a merchant—all residing in Avignon—for a total sum of 60,000 francs, as per the deed dated 16 Ventôse, Year XI (March 7, 1803), drawn up by Maître Martin, a notary in Carpentras. Very soon afterward, they proceeded to divide up the aforementioned house and its outbuildings, by deed recorded by Maître Terrasse, a notary in Avignon, on 6 Thermidor, Year XI (July 25, 1803), and Louis Thomas quickly found himself to be the sole owner of all the buildings. It was his son, Charles Guillaume Jacques Thomas (Avignon, July 19, 1787 – Avignon, December 24, 1871), who donated the large fireplace from the guard room of the Hôtel de Crillon to the Calvet Museum in 1835 [archive]. The hotel was purchased on June 10, 1885, after five years of legal proceedings, by Félix Théodule de Grammont (1831–1920), whose mother was Victurnienne Ernestine de Berton des Balbes de Crillon (1807–1863), who had married Ferdinand Théodule, Marquis de Grammont (1805–1889), in 1829. The mansion was then completely renovated under the direction of Louis Valentin, former architect of the Vaucluse department and inspector of diocesan buildings and historic monuments in Vaucluse, who lived in the mansion. Today, the Hôtel Berton des Balbes de Crillon still belongs to the family’s descendants. https://hoteldecrillon-avignon.fr/