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A stone’s throw from the Maison de la Radio in Paris, at 60, rue Jean-de-la-Fontaine precisely, the Mezzara hotel, built in 1910 by the architect Hector Guimard (1867-1942), stands out behind its closed shutters, sleeping beauty of the 16the Parisian district. This Art Nouveau jewel of 750 square meters (spread over four levels) has been empty and unused since the boarding school residents of the Jean-Zay public high school left the premises in 2015. Heritage lovers see it as the dream place to open the Guimard Museum which is missing in Paris… Doesn’t the capital owe its world-famous metro entrances to the famous architect?
From the large hall decorated with an zenith stained glass window in pastel tones to the staircase with metal railing covered in cast iron with plant motifs, including the dining room in pear wood, this forgotten masterpiece of the master of Art Nouveau, all curves and counter-curves, conceals multiple treasures. Without forgetting the 700 square meter garden at the back of the building. It was Paul Mezzara, a textile industrialist of Venetian origin who had it built: but he only lived there for two years, from 1911 to 1913, due to his divorce.
The Mezzara hotel, remarkably preserved, has survived the 20th centurye century without damage. It was sold in 1930 to the three Lacascade sisters, who made it a private teaching course, then in 1956 to the State, which set up a hostel for high school girls there. The private mansion is today the only building signed by Hector Guimard that belongs to the State.
Years of battle
Nicolas Horiot, president of the Le Cercle Guimard association, has been fighting for ten years for its transformation into a museum. “Today, all the conditions are met to create, at the Mezzara hotel, the Guimard Museum which would allow Paris to once again become one of the great capitals of Art Nouveau, alongside Barcelona with Antoni Gaudí or Brussels with Victor Horta. This is a unique opportunity that you absolutely must seize,” he enthuses.
Since 2018, this 52-year-old architect has teamed up with another young fifty-year-old, who also fell under the spell of the Mezzara hotel: the entrepreneur Fabien Choné, co-founder of Direct Energie, now owned by the Total group, president of the consulting and investment company Fabelsi. Polytechnician, graduate of the National School of Bridges and Roads, this enthusiast of Art Nouveau created Hector Guimard Diffusion, to carry out the museum project in which he says he is ready to invest 5 million euros.
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