La Maison Rose: The Picture Perfect 'Pink House' at Montmartre
Montmartre in Paris is well known for its famous buildings, sacred monuments, cafes loved by artists and la Maison Rose, the pretty 'Pink House' which is located on the corner of rue de l' Abreuvoir and rue des Saules, Montmartre. You may have read about this iconic and picture worthy cafe or even seen it yourself already.
What you may not know is some of the cool facts and stories about la Maison Rose, which I think makes this little pink house even more interesting. La Maison Rose is part of the very fabric of Montmartre, being around for over 100 years, and long before the separate community of Montmartre became part of Paris (read our blog post The History of Montmartre).
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The Beginnings of La Maison Rose at 2 Rue de l’ Abreuvoir, Montmartre
Sometime in the early 1900s, shortly after her marriage in 1906, Laure ‘Germaine’ Gargallo Florentin Pichot opened La Maison Rose with her husband, Ramon Pichot Girones (a Catalan painter) who favoured the impressionist style. The couple were part of the artistic scene and spent time with Picasso, Albert Camus, Suzanne Valadon and Maurice Utrillo, who all frequented the restaurant.
La Maison Rose circa 1905 (Wikimedia Commons)
Together Germaine and Pichot ran the moderately priced coffee shop and boarding house for a long time, drawing in artists who would go on to become some of the most famous painters of the 20th century including Vincent Van Gogh who lived for a time with his brother Theo, in Theo's apartment at 54 rue Lepic Montmartre (just down the hill from La Maison Rose).
Pichot as well as entertaining painters at his cafe, took on the role of mentor to the young (10 year old) painter Salvador Dali who was just beginning to paint.
La Maison Rose Was A Favourite with Writers and Artists
La Petite Maison has been serving coffee and food for over a century to local residents and artists who choose Montmartre as their home. The clientele is now more likely to be tourists exploring the area and wanting to take photos in front of this very famous pink cafe, and even though it may be a bit cheesy, it's a sweet place to stop for a chilled drink after climbing the slight incline of rue de l' Abreuvoir, particularly if you are on your way to Place de Tertre or Sacré-Cœur.
Found between Place Delia and Clos Montmartre, La Maison Rose is perfectly placed for a cool drink as you wander and explore street art, walk secret gardens and Places and see all the iconic sites this artistic and hip region has to offer.
La Maison Rose Inspired A Famous Painting by Maurice Utrillo
Artist Maurice Utrillo (1883-1855), born in the 18th district, immortalised La Maison Rose and its iconic exterior in a painting that he called ‘The Little Pink House’ in the 1930’s which became famous not because of the subject of the painting, but rather that it sold for so much at auction.
Maurice Utrillo continued to feature La Maison Rose in a number of his paintings as also did Bernard Buffett.
Maison du peintre Pitschot dans la maison Rose à Montmartre circa 1910 (Wikimedia Commons)
La Maison Has Remained Unchanged at 2 Rue de l’Abreuvoir, Montmartre
Paris is a city of contrasts with some buildings remaining unchanged retaining their architectural integrity and other buildings as off-beat and modern as you can imagine, often causing a stir when first built - think of the Louvre Museum's glass pyramid and Centre Pompidou. La Maison Rose however has remained virtually unchanged on the exterior since it was first built to neatly fill the triangular plot of land at the corner of rue de l'Abreuvoir and rue des Saules.
Luckily, the cafe survived a planned demolition in the early 1930's when a new construction project planned for the site required the building to be pulled down. While structurally unchanged, the colours of the cafe have changed a few times. Records have the cafe as a nondescript beige when purchased by Laure Germaine and Ramon Pichot Girones in about 1905, then pink when Germaine decided to paint it pink after an inspired trip to Barcelona.
The name La Maison Rose and déjeuners & diners was added together with matching green shutters and stayed that way until 1970 when new owner Beatrice Miolano (who had purchased La Maison Rose in 1948) had it painted white. The cafe underwent renovations in early 2018 under the control of Laurence Miolano, Beatrice’s granddaughter, and happily invites tourists and locals to enjoy its menu and the history within its iconic walls.
So there you have some cool and interesting facts about the little 'pink house', La Maison Rose which is perched on the corner of rue de l' Abreuvoir and rue des Saules, Montmartre.
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