In Maisons-Laffitte, the Maison Doulton immediately catches the eye with its dark red bricks, large pointed-arch windows, columns, and dozens of terracotta motifs. The most surprising thing, however, is its origin: this facade was built for the 1878 Paris World’s Fair, before being dismantled and then reassembled at its current location.
The building was designed by the English architect Starke Wilkinson for Doulton & Lambeth, a British manufacturer specializing in ceramics and architectural terracotta. At the World’s Fair, the pavilion served, in a sense, as a life-size catalog: nearly every part of the facade allowed the company to showcase what it was capable of producing.
A piece of the World’s Fair moved to Maisons-Laffitte
Once the exhibition ended, the pavilion could very well have disappeared, like many temporary structures designed for these major international events. Its facade was ultimately preserved, moved to the park in Maisons-Laffitte, and then expanded, while an actual house was built behind it.
Its style belongs to the Gothic Revival movement, a very British reinterpretation of medieval architecture that became popular in the 19th century. The openings occupy a large portion of the facade, while bricks, terracotta elements, and decorative features complement one another across two levels.
The site also serves as a rather tangible reminder of what the Paris World’s Fairs were like before the Eiffel Tower. The 1878 exhibition, in particular, took place on the Champ-de-Mars and at the Trocadéro and brought together pavilions from numerous countries. A few traces of this event still remain in the Île-de-France region, but the Maison Doulton is among the most surprising because it has been incorporated into a private residence rather than preserved as an exhibition pavilion.
The street-facing facade has been listed as a Historic Monument since 2012, in recognition of its architectural significance and its history tied to the World’s Fair.
However, it’s important to know this before making the trip: the Maison Doulton is not open to the public, as it is private property.
Location: Maison Doulton, 30 avenue Pascal, 78600 Maisons-Laffitte