Château de Malmaison

Bought in 1799 and renovated by Empress Joséphine (1763-1814), then wife of Emperor Napoléon I (1769-1821), of France. Along with the Tuileries Palace it was the headquarters of the French government from 1800 to 1802 and Napoleon's last residence in France before he was exiled to Elba. His bedroom suite was copied identically for Frank Woolworth at his country estate, Winfield Hall. Woolworth believed he was Napoleon's reincarnation and even slept in the same bed that Napoleon had made for Malmaison. The chateau was dedicated as a national museum to Napoleon in 1905 and it greatest benefactor was the American philanthropist Edward Tuck (1842-1938) who lived next door at the Domaine Vert-Mont. Among the many treasures here that belonged to Napoleon is the original painting of "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" that Napoleon's brother had taken to America where it hung in the Billiards Room at Point Breeze in New Jersey.