The House of Dior is going to restore the Queen’s House at le Hameau, the hamlet on the grounds behind le Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s residence at Versailles. This is where she and her ladies-in-waiting played milkmaid, inspired by Rousseau’s noble savage. While the exterior was appropriately rustic, the interiors were swathed in painted silk. Dior’s announcement was timed to coincide with their Fall/Winter 2014 campaign “Secret Garden – Versailles 2.”
It’s not just a cosmetic tweaking that’s needed. To save the dilapidated structure from further decay, the grounds and gardens have to be lowered to protect them from rising damp. Then the whole structure will be shored up. After that, they’ll turn to the interior; the flooring, paneling, and paintwork will be reproduced either based on records of how it looked in the 18th century or the redecoration carried out by the empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon’s second wife, two hundred years ago.
The expression remise en neuf (ruhmeezehn nuf) means to put something back like new, or renovate. It’s going to be a massive undertaking. The refurbished Queen’s House will open in 2015.
Thank you for this post! I will now put off my trip to Versailles until 2015!
I must say, I’m looking forward to seeing it, too!