About : Château de la Petite Malmaison

Willing to have in Malmaison park a place dedicated to her passion, botany, Josephine has the castle of La Petite Malmaison Castle built between 1803 and 1805 with the help of famous artists: Berthault, the architect, Gilet for the marbles and Jacob Desmalter, the cabinetmaker.

The Empress set all her heart to the improvement and decoration of this house, with the noticeable addition of great hothouses where she would grow exotic plants and flowers and also trees that sometimes were nearly 5 metres high. All the exotic plants, including the hydrangea, were brought to her by naturalist Bonpland. Redouté was her botanist and a famous painter in watercolours, also called the ‘Raphael of the flowers’, he created his most beautiful roses in these hothouses.

Today, La Petite Malmaison is a private home surrounded by hundreds of years old trees. It kept the delicate atmosphere that prevailed during the days of the Empire.

Guided tours, classical music concerts and exhibitions are regularly organized in the reception rooms that can be visited on these occasions.