The Hotel de Castiglione story

The Hotel de Castiglione Paris is a 4-star hotel, offering 100 bedrooms, which managed to protect its attractiveness along the years. The Countess of Castiglione loved this historical area where our hotel, the “big castle” (Castiglione in Italian) was built in 1932, by the architect Charles SICLIS.

The Hotel de Castiglione Paris presents Charles Siclis (Paris 1889, New York 1942)

This French architect, born in Paris in 1889, is Ephraïm Rosinsky Ziclis’s son. His father was a lyrical singer performing at the Scala, Milan. Charles studied in Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where his teacher was Jean-Louis Pascal, Prix de Rome, who had studied for 37 years the indoor and outdoor parts of Bibliothèque Nationale de France (salle Ovale, salon Voltaire, salle des périodiques, grand escalier d’honneur…)

Charles Siclis graduated in 1920, the year of Jean-Louis Pascal’s death. In 1925, as a member of the Société des Artistes décorateurs, he took part in the Exposition des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, by building the Pavillon des magasins de la Place Clichy on the Esplanade des Invalides and the Cour des artistes décorateurs. On that occasion he showed groups of statues made by Benon, Chauvel, Chauvet, Navarre and Popineau.

Then he opened studios in Paris, Biarritz et Nice, from where he managed a number of orders from the happy few of that time; he created a lot of hotels and villas in Paris, on the Riviera, on the Basque coast and in the region of Arcachon ; his architecture can be modern or mindful of  the spirit of the region or in the Art-Deco style ; however it is always remarkably pure.

Among his notable creations let us mention  M. Mc Williams’s villa in Biarritz, Mme Marthe Régnier’s villa in Ilbaritz, the Duke Decazes’s villa in Arcachon as well as the Baron de Rothschild’s villa in the very same city ; In 1926, Philippe de Rothschild, who was his friend and patron, put an order with Charles for the creation of the grand wine cellar for Mouton-Rothschild : a 330 ft long room without a single column that creates a dramatic effect for this prestigious wine; that was a first in this field and that remains the first tourist visit of Bordeaux’s region.

In 1928 in Paris, he designed the theatre St-Georges then the theatre des Mathurins in 1929 as well as the theatre Pigalle (this latter one was the best designed ; it was unfortunately pulled down and replaced by a garage). He also built the movie theatre Paris-Soir.

In Paris he also creates cafés (le Chiquito in 1927 and le Colisée in 1932 on Avenue des Champs Elysées), a hotel : Hotel de Castiglione in le Faubourg St-honoré), luxury boutiques : the perfume shop Isabey in 1928) and furniture :among which the chair “cantilever” in 1935)…

He knew no boundaries and was also busy in Porto (where he cooperated in the building of Casa Serralves) and in Madrid in the design of Gran Edificio Paris-Madrid.

Last he designed camouflages for the French army to hide ammunition stores and weapon factories. When the Second World War broke out, he left for New-York to escape the Nazi persecutions; he offered his « secret » tricks to the US Army (according to his obituary in the New-York Times archives).

He worked in New York until he died, aged 53. His grave is in Saint-Mary’s Cemetery of Yonkers, Westchester’s county, state of New-York.

Charles Siclis leaves behind him a great production in France and South America : more than 50 villas, 18 theaters, many hotels, cafés and movie theaters; his style may be  Art-Déco , regional or the modern  ; his wonderful feeling for lines,  proportions and light makes each of his creation a model.