The Ritz, Paris. Collection of Original Groundplans for the 1898 Design of the Ritz in Paris

1898. MEWES, Charles. The Ritz Hotel, Paris. Collection of Renderings for the 1898 and 1911 Construction of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. 46 mounted sheets, various sizes, Zincographs with watercolour additions. Large folio, modern cloth-backed boards. Paris: [1898-1911]. At the beginning of the 20th century, The Ritz Hotel in Paris was the hangout of many celebrities and literati such as Marcel Proust, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Coco Chanel. Located on the Place Vendôme in the heart of the 1st arrondissement, the building is in the classic late 17th century style, designed by the royal architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The original plan was to situate government offices in a group of buildings, but due to financial difficulties only the façade was constructed and the land behind it was later sold to aristocrats for private residences. In 1896 Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz acquired one of the buildings and engaged Charles Mewès, an architect known for his grand buildings in the classical style, to update the original 1705 structure. Ritz's innovative standards of hygiene demanded a bathroom for every suite, the maximum possible amount of sunlight, and the minimum of curtains and other hangings. At the same time he furnished the hotel with all the old-fashioned appeal of an English or French gentleman's house, in order to make clients feel at home. Mewes's transformation of what was then the Hotel de Gramont, into the Ritz, resulted in the first hotel in the world to have a bathroom for each room, thanks to his invention of ventilation courtyards. These two massive volumes show Mewes's plans for the original building and for the later 1911 expansion into an adjoining building. Each of the sheets is signed by all the various people involved in the construction, with most measuring an average of 575 x 1700 mm. This is a unique document detailing the creation of one of the world's legendary buildings. PROVENANCE: From the collection of Thierry Despont, the architect responsible for the most recent renovation of the Ritz.