“A house of refuge or a house of hell?” someone once pondered about Villa de Chateaubriand. Villa Chateaubriand holds a unique place in Parisian history. It is not directly connected to the famous writer François-René de Chateaubriand. But it does carry his name.
Villa Chateaubriand is located at 88 avenue Denfert-Rochereau. This was formerly 114 rue d’Enfer. Peter Julian Eymard and Raymond de Cuers established the first house of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation here in 1856.
The house was named after François-René de Chateaubriand. He was an influential writer and diplomat who previously owned the property. Villa Chateaubriand adjoined the Marie-Therese Infirmary. Chateaubriand’s wife established this infirmary in 1819. It was located at 92 avenue Denfert-Rochereau. The infirmary occupied almost a hectare of land and gardens. The Chateaubriands had progressively purchased this land during their period of ownership. You can still see a Chateaubriand commemorative plaque on the exterior of 92 avenue Denfert-Rochereau.
The Archdiocese of Paris acquired the large property in 1838. Various religious orders and church organizations were then located on the site. The infirmary continued as a residence for retired priests. Villa Chateaubriand was badly neglected. Eymard first occupied the building in mid-1856.
The original street name rue d’Enfer was changed in 1879. It became avenue Denfert-Rochereau. This honored Colonel Pierre Phillippe Denfert-Rochereau. He led the successful defense of Belfort in the Franco-Prussian War. The change was a clever pun. It retained a sense of the old name. It removed its most undesirable aspect. Rue d’Enfer means lower street. It could easily be corrupted as street of Hell.
L’Institut d’Education Sensorielle occupies 88 avenue Denfert-Rochereau since 1858. It continues the original mission of the Blind Sisters of St Paul. They were established in 1852. Their mission was to educate young people with visual impairments. The front sitting room of the building was the sanctuary of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation chapel.
Modern buildings were erected on the former Infirmary site from the 1970s. The property was the subject of a heritage dispute in November 2010. A potential redevelopment threatened the integrity of some of the surrounding parkland. It also threatened parts of the Infirmary Chapel where Mme de Chateaubriand is buried.
Eymard arrived in Paris on 1 May 1856. He intended to make a retreat. He wanted to seek the will of God. He wanted to approach the Paris bishops for their consent. He wanted to establish a Society of the Blessed Sacrament. He accepted temporary accommodation in the residence of a community of priests. They were dedicated to the Holy Heart of Mary. They were located on part of the diocesan property at 114 rue d’Enfer. He soon discovered that his rudimentary residence was Villa Chateaubriand.
Eymard received the consent of the Paris bishops on 13 May 1856. He learned that the community of the Holy Heart of Mary was being disbanded. The archdiocese offered tenancy of Villa Chateaubriand to Eymard. He enthusiastically accepted the invitation. He took official possession of the house on 1 June 1856.
Eymard began to call the run-down house the cenacle. This was after the upper room in which the Last Supper was held. He and his confrere Fr Raymond de Cuers established a temporary chapel in Chateaubriand’s former study. Eymard slept in Chateaubriand’s old bedroom. It overlooked the parkland and one of the Lebanon cedars. The writer had planted these decades earlier.
The first Mass was celebrated on 2 June 1856. The Blessed Sacrament was reserved in the tabernacle on 15 June. A larger chapel was built during the summer of 1856. It extended the front of the house. The chapel was consecrated on 28 September 1856. Solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was inaugurated here on 6 January 1857.
The work of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation had begun. By mid-1857 there was adoration on four days and three nights each week. But the Archdiocese of Paris decided to put Villa Chateaubriand on the market. The Society of the Blessed Sacrament was given three months’ notice to vacate the premises. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at rue d’Enfer ended on 30 March 1858. Eymard’s pioneer community left rue d’Enfer on 3 April 1858.