A Paris Architecture Walk: Le Corbusier and Guimard in Auteuil

Spend the morning with Le Corbusier, then walk through Auteuil to look at Guimard’s buildings. This is a good day for someone who notices windows, staircases and door handles, and wants to see a residential side of Paris beyond the central monuments.

Book Maison La Roche first. Use its time slot to arrange the walk and lunch. If you want a fuller modernist day, add Le Corbusier’s apartment-studio on an afternoon when it opens. If your interest is more casual, one interior visit and the street walk are enough.

• Make Maison La Roche the booked stop. The foundation requires online reservations. Regular public opening is Tuesday through Saturday; choose your date before building the rest of the day.
• Treat Guimard’s residential buildings as exterior stops. Seeing an address on an architecture map does not mean its courtyard or apartments are open to visitors.
• Add the apartment-studio only if you want a second interior. Its opening days are more limited, and reaching the apartment involves stairs. This is an optional extension, not something to squeeze in automatically.

Maison La Roche is at 10 square du Docteur Blanche, reached through 55 rue du Docteur Blanche. Jasmin, on Métro line 9, is the foundation’s suggested station.

Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret designed the house for the collector Raoul La Roche in the 1920s. It combines an art gallery with private living quarters. Look at how you move between spaces and how the view changes as you walk, rather than treating it as a collection of individual rooms.

The foundation posts a €10 full-price ticket. Its regular opening is 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with seasonal closures. Online booking is required. Wheelchair access is limited to the entrance hall; there is no lift. Use the foundation’s booking page for the date and visit format you want.

Walk toward Castel Béranger, 14 rue Jean-de-La-Fontaine. This changes the visual rhythm of the morning: from the spaces inside a modernist house to the details on an Art Nouveau apartment building.

The City of Paris architecture walk identifies this as one of Hector Guimard’s major residential works. Give the entrance and the facade separate looks. Stand back for the overall composition, then come closer to see the ironwork and materials from the pavement.

Look for the cat panel beneath the projecting corner window. The Cercle Guimard’s research identifies the glazed-stoneware panel at the corner with hameau Béranger and credits the model to sculptor Xavier Raphanel. It’s the kind of small detail you can miss when you photograph the whole facade and move on.

For more buildings along the way, download the foundation’s Auteuil architecture map. Pick the ones that interest you instead of feeling obliged to tick off every address.

Auteuil Brasserie is the sit-down lunch option to consider as you continue toward Porte d’Auteuil. Choose it if you want a substantial break before the optional second house.

The posted weekday lunch menu includes creamy stracciatella with zaatar and pita, grilled courgettes with hummus, and chicken with mushroom cream and orzo. The courgettes are the lighter direction; the chicken makes more sense if you want a fuller meal. Two courses are listed at €22.50 and three at €25.50, excluding drinks and public holidays. These are menu examples, not a promise that the same dishes will be served on your date.

If you’re finishing after lunch, keep the afternoon free. This route doesn’t need another museum to justify the trip west.

The apartment-studio is at 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli. It lets you compare a house designed for a client with the architect’s own home and painting space. Pay attention to the large pivoting doors and the way the living and working areas relate.

Book through the foundation. Its regular public schedule lists Thursday and Friday afternoons and Saturday visits, with seasonal exceptions. The apartment is on the seventh floor. Lift use is restricted and the lift stops below the apartment; it is not wheelchair accessible. A free virtual tour is linked on the same page.

Choose this extension for a real interest in Le Corbusier’s work. Otherwise, the morning already gives you an interior visit and a neighborhood walk without filling the day with appointments.

This is a useful addition to a five-day Paris stay, especially after the major sights. It asks you to look closely at a smaller area, rather than cover another long list of monuments.

If you wanted covered galleries, mosaics and the Richelieu library instead, use our rainy-day Paris route. That is the central-city alternative. The two walks offer different buildings and different neighborhoods, so you can choose by what you actually enjoy looking at.