Hôtel de Caumont

It is located at 1 rue Joseph Cabassol, in the Quartier Mazarin of Aix-en-Provence.[1]

It was designed by architects Robert de Cotte (1656–1735) and Georges Vallon (1688-1767), and built from 1715 to 1742 for François Rolland de Réauville de Tertulle, the Marquess of Cabannes.[1][2] Sculptors Jean-Baptiste Rambot and Bernard Toro designed the atlas.[1] Inside, the entrance has an indoor fountain, with two sets of stairs: one for the family, and another one for the staff.[1]

The hotel was inherited by Jean-Baptiste-François de Tertulle, son of François Rolland de Réauville de Tertulle.[2] Upon his death, his widow sold it to François de Bruny de la Tour d'Aigues (1690-1772).[1][2] It was inherited by his son, the Marseilles shipowner Jean-Baptiste de Bruny de la Tour d'Aigues (1724-1794), who served as the Président à mortier of the Parliament of Aix-en-Provence.[1] He bequeathed it on to his son Marie Jean Joseph (1768-1800), who again passed it to his sister, Pauline de Bruny de la Tour d'Aigues (1767-1850), who had married Amable-Victor-Joseph-François de Paule de Seytres de Caumont (1764-1841), the Marquess of Caumont, in 1796.[1][2] He was accused of "stealing the most beautiful hôtel particulier from Provence by this marriage," as a street sign outside the hotel suggests. The marriage was childless, and the hotel was bequeathed to one of Pauline's cousins.[2]

In 1964, General Isembart sold it to the city of Aix.[2] They rented it out to La Poste, the postal service in France.[2] From 1970 to 2013, it was home to a music school, the Conservatoire Darius Milhaud.[2][3][4]

It has been listed as a monument historique since 1990.

Hôtel de Caumont was purchased in 2013 by Culturespaces[5] for €10 million. Over the next two years it underwent extensive refurbishing, and reopened to the public on May 6th 2015,[6] as a paid attraction and cultural space, exhibiting sections of the house and garden as they were in their prime, along with a gift shop, art exhibition space, and a small theater.[7]