After Balzac moved out in 1847, his apartment was rented to others.
At the end of the 19th century, the owner of the house allowed a few select individuals to visit Balzac’s old apartment. It was during one such visit that Louis Baudier de Royaumont, a distinguished man of letters, discovered the place. Enchanted, he succeeded in creating the first museum dedicated to Balzac there in 1910.
During the early years of the 20th century, the village of Passy was gradually being urbanised and becoming one of the wealthiest districts of the capital. By that time, Passy had lost its rural character.
‘When I moved to Auteuil, the Rue Raynouard still looked as it did in Balzac’s time. It is much changed now. The Rue Berton remains, still lit by kerosene lamps, but doubtless they will soon change that too.’
Guillaume Apollinaire, ‘Souvenir d’Auteuil’, Le Flâneur des deux rives, 1918
The site and the house both experienced significant upheavals. Following World War I, building work undertaken inside destroyed all traces of the decoration from Balzac’s time. Furthermore, the mansion that had hidden the house was destroyed in 1937 in order to enlarge the rue Raynouard. However, the inclusion of the garden in the Inventaire des monuments historiques (Heritage Register) allowed for preservation of some buildings.
In 1948, the City of Paris reclaimed the property and set up a museum, which opened in 1949 after extensive construction. Lastly, a research library was established in 1971 on the ground floor of the house.
