Stays & Homes Paris / Haussmann apartments
Haussmann apartments in Paris: the complete guide
High ceilings, herringbone parquet, marble fireplaces, tall windows on a wrought-iron balcony: the apartment most people picture when they think of Paris has a name, a date and a logic. Here is how to read one, and how to buy one well.
What is a Haussmann apartment?
A Haussmann (or Haussmannian) apartment is a home in one of the cut-stone buildings erected in Paris during and after the rebuilding of the city led by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, prefect of the Seine from 1853 to 1870. Its hallmarks are high ceilings, tall French windows, herringbone oak parquet, marble fireplaces, plaster mouldings and wrought-iron balconies.
The style outlived the man: buildings put up to the same rules until the early 1900s are called Haussmannian too, and later ones — with bow windows and richer sculpture, permitted by the regulations of 1884 and 1902 — are usually described as post-Haussmannian.
Who was Baron Haussmann?
Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809–1891), known as Baron Haussmann, was the prefect appointed by Napoleon III in 1853 to modernise Paris. In seventeen years he cut the great boulevards through the medieval city, built sewers, aqueducts, parks and squares, and imposed the uniform stone façades that still define Paris. He was dismissed in 1870.
His critics accused him of extravagance and of destroying old Paris; his admirers point out that the city he left is the one the world now travels to see. Both are right. What matters to a buyer today is that his rules produced buildings of remarkable consistency and quality: solid stone, generous proportions, and a layout logic you can learn to read in ten minutes.
How to read a Haussmann building, floor by floor
A Haussmann building is a social hierarchy in stone, designed before lifts existed. The most prestigious apartment is on the second floor, the étage noble. Ceilings get lower and decoration plainer as you climb, until the servants' rooms under the roof. Lifts, added later, reversed the price logic: today high floors with light and views are the most sought after.
| Level | Original purpose | What you find today |
|---|---|---|
| Ground floor and entresol | Shops, with the shopkeeper's low-ceilinged lodging above | Shops, offices, occasionally small apartments |
| 2nd floor — the étage noble | The wealthiest family: highest ceilings, tallest windows, richest mouldings, continuous balcony | The grandest reception rooms in the building; a lasting premium for volume and detail, less light than higher up |
| 3rd and 4th floors | Well-off families; slightly lower ceilings, individual balconies or none | Classic family apartments, good balance of volume and light |
| 5th floor | Second continuous balcony, built for the look of the façade rather than for prestige | With a lift, often the most desirable floor: balcony, light, open views |
| 6th floor, under the mansard roof | Servants' rooms (chambres de service), reached by the service stair | Studios, or rooms combined into rooftop apartments; check ceiling heights and Carrez area |
The layout inside
The plan follows a rule. Reception rooms — salon, dining room, sometimes a library — line the street façade and open one into the next in an enfilade. Bedrooms sit on the quieter courtyard side. A long corridor links them, and the kitchen was placed at the far end near the service stair, because it belonged to the staff. Most renovated apartments have moved the kitchen forward to the reception rooms; where that has been done well, with the mouldings and fireplaces kept, you get the best of both centuries.
Where are the best Haussmann apartments in Paris?
The finest concentrations are on the Right Bank: around Parc Monceau and the Golden Triangle in the 8th arrondissement, the Plaine Monceau in the 17th, the northern 16th around Trocadéro and Victor Hugo, and the 9th around Opéra. On the Left Bank, look at boulevards Saint-Germain and Raspail and the streets around the Luxembourg Gardens.
The historic centre — the Marais, the islands, much of Saint-Germain — is older than Haussmann: beautiful, but a different kind of building. Our neighbourhood guide gives current notarial prices for each arrondissement.
What does a Haussmann apartment cost?
There is no separate price index for Haussmann apartments. As a guide, the arrondissements where they are concentrated averaged between about €10,000 and €13,000 per square metre across all sales in Q2 2026, according to the Paris notaries, and well-preserved family apartments on good floors sell above those averages, often substantially.
See the explanation of why price sources differ before comparing figures. Add about 7.5 percent for closing costs.
What to check before buying one
- What is original. Parquet, fireplaces, mouldings, doors, window hardware. Replaced elements are not a fault, but they are not worth the same.
- Floor and lift. Many lifts were fitted into stairwells and are small. A fifth floor without a lift is a very different purchase from one with.
- The building's big-ticket items. Façade cleaning (ravalement, legally required at intervals in Paris), roof, lift, stairwell. The last three years of co-ownership minutes will tell you what has been voted and what is coming.
- Energy rating. Stone walls and single-glazed tall windows often mean an E, F or G DPE. It matters if you plan to let, and it can be improved — within the limits of what the co-ownership and the city's heritage rules allow.
- Load-bearing walls. Opening the kitchen to the salon usually means touching a structural wall, which requires an engineer's study and a vote of the co-owners.
- Light. Visit at two different times of day. A north-facing second floor on a narrow street is handsome and dark.
- Annexes. A cellar and a chambre de service often come with the apartment; check they are on the title.
Common questions
Is it Haussmann, Haussmannian or Haussmannien?
All three are used. "Haussmannien" is the French adjective; "Haussmannian" is its English form; "Haussmann apartment" and "Haussmann building" are the most common in everyday English. They mean the same thing.
Which floor is best in a Haussmann building?
For volume and decoration, the second floor, the étage noble. For light, views and resale today, the fifth floor with its continuous balcony, provided there is a lift. The third and fourth floors are the sensible middle.
How high are the ceilings?
They vary by floor and by building. The étage noble is the highest, often above three metres; upper floors are lower, and rooms under the roof lower still. Always ask for the measured height: it cannot be changed.
Can a foreigner buy a Haussmann apartment?
Yes. France places no restriction on foreign ownership of residential property. See our guide to buying in Paris as a foreigner for the process, costs and taxes.
Are Haussmann apartments a good investment?
They are the most recognisable and most liquid type of prime property in Paris, and supply is fixed: nobody is building more. That supports value over the long term, but it is not a guarantee, and running costs, works and tax all weigh on returns. We can describe the market; we do not give investment advice.
Written by Antonin Sucheras, founder of Stays & Homes Paris. Historical dates are from standard references on the Second Empire transformation of Paris; prices from the Notaires du Grand Paris (8 September 2026).