Events to the rescue of heritage

At a time when lotteries are being launched to save our heritage and châteaux are being restored through crowdfunding campaigns, can the events industry bring historic establishments back to life and restore their prestige?

The By Kadrance story began in 2004

This story began with the renovation of a building constructed in the 1930s by a shipping company. It is a totally unusual building in this famous district, stronghold of the 19th-century intellectuals, then nicknamed the Nouvelle Athènes. We wanted to turn it into a unique venue, reusing the materials of the period and paying tribute to the Art Deco style that cracked the Haussmannian mould of Paris after the First World War.

We continued with the Cercle LeBrun

This 18th-century private mansion is one of the few to have four façades (at that time, mansions were built on long, narrow plots and therefore had neighbours on both sides), and was successively home to the painter Antoine Watteau, the naturalist Georges de Buffon and the engraver Edme Jeaurat.

Two years ago, we began major works on this mansion. It was a fabulous treasure hunt. We commissioned a heritage study and discovered what is known today about the history of this gem, listed as a historic monument since 1955.

This research inspired the renovation, and we chose to organise the venue into four areas that pay tribute to its illustrious residents: the Sculptor’s salon, the Botanist’s salons, the Painter’s salons and the Architect’s salons. We called on great craftspeople who drew inspiration from noble materials, all references to the 18th century.

These days we are completing the rehabilitation of Cercle d’Aumale, a former private music club that has hosted the greatest French artists. It is located rue d’Aumale (9th arr.), where Richard Wagner, Françoise Hardy and many other artists lived, making this district a haunt of musicians in search of the right instrument.

Hosting events in these venues means immersing yourself in their archives, listening to their music and trying to bring them back to life. It means wanting to give your visitors a sensory experience. For the length of a dinner, a meeting or a working workshop. Stepping out of your usual setting and feeling accompanied by history. Being outside time while enjoying all of today’s technology.

These venues are charged with the energies of those who lived in them.

Hosting events in these venues also gives meaning and historical depth to everyone who works with us every day.

Feeling like the custodian of a heritage, of a history.