RPR-FRA-027 · FRANCE
Château de Malmaison
Plan a visit
Some areas accessible — The château receives visitors, but the operator announces that the second floor is closed until further notice. Tuesday is the normal closing day. Check the current room route and calendar rather than assuming that all floors are accessible.
Official source / visitor information
Source review: 2026-10-12.
Consular / Imperial Private Residence
French name: Château de Malmaison
Type: Consular / Imperial Private Residence
Dates: 1799 onward under Joséphine and Napoleon
Status: Surviving / national museum
Provenance: Private residence central to the Bonaparte court before and during the First Empire
Geography
Geographic Path: France → Île-de-France → Hauts-de-Seine → Rueil-Malmaison
Local Place: Rueil-Malmaison
Estate / Micro-location: Malmaison imperial estate
Browse France Palace Geography →
Rulers, Residents & Use by Reign
| Period | Ruler | Relationship | Notes | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1804–1814/1815 | Napoleon I | imperial residence / patron | First Empire residence network. | High |
Useful Links
Can You Visit?
Access status: open_regularly
Château de Malmaison collections open regularly except weekly closure; some associated spaces may close temporarily.
Official visitor information →
Visitor Statistics
| Year | Value | Unit | Scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 91,000 | admissions | Domaine national du Château de Malmaison | |
| 2024 | 93,000 | admissions | Domaine national du Château de Malmaison | National-domain attendance. |
For the latest access review, see Plan Your Visit above.
Palace Profile & Official Website
Château de Malmaison is recorded as Consular / Imperial Private Residence. Location: Rueil-Malmaison. Private residence central to the Bonaparte court before and during the First Empire
Summary from the existing catalogue; the historical description has not been fully re-audited in this release.
Official source / visitor information
Access: The château receives visitors, but the operator announces that the second floor is closed until further notice. Tuesday is the normal closing day. Check the current room route and calendar rather than assuming that all floors are accessible.
Sources
Annual Visitor Statistics
| Year | Reported figure | What is counted / notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 91,000 | Domaine national du Château de Malmaison; Prior catalogue record; not reverified in this release. Precision: rounded. | Source |
| 2024 | 93,000 | Domaine national du Château de Malmaison; National-domain attendance. Prior catalogue record; not reverified in this release. Precision: rounded. | Source |
Interiors and collections
Percier and Fontaine’s Consular interiors
After Bonaparte and Joséphine acquired Malmaison in 1799, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine adapted the existing house rather than replacing it. The library combines mahogany architectural elements with a painted ceiling referring to literature and classical decoration. In the Council Room, fabric walls and military motifs evoke a campaign tent. These rooms connect the domestic scale of the residence with Bonaparte’s working life and the architects’ interpretation of Antiquity.
Joséphine’s bedroom: original bed, reconstructed setting
Louis-Martin Berthault redesigned Joséphine’s bedroom in 1812 as a tent-like circular space. The gilded bed supplied by Jacob-Desmalter has swans at its head and cornucopia-shaped supports. Joséphine died in it in 1814. The room’s present interpretation follows a reconstruction commissioned by Napoleon III in 1865; the original bed returned in 1868, was removed again in 1870 and returned for the museum’s opening in 1906. Its canopy is a replacement from Fontainebleau. The ensemble therefore combines an original historic object with a later reconstructed setting.
Visitor scope and a current closure
The museum’s official notice, checked on 10 October 2026, states that the second floor is temporarily closed until further notice. The museum otherwise advertises regular opening except Tuesdays; consult its current notices and opening hours before visiting. Groups require a reservation, whether accompanied by a guide or not. A description of the château’s historic rooms does not imply that every floor is accessible, and the bedroom account above should not be confused with a guarantee of access to the temporarily closed floor.
Architect of Joséphine’s bedroom: Louis-Martin Berthault
Official sources
- Malmaison Museum: architecture and decoration
- Malmaison Museum: the empress’s bed and reconstructed bedroom
- Malmaison Museum: official visitor notices and reservations
Sources checked 10 October 2026.