Maison de Balzac Museum

Address: 47 Rue Raynouard, 75016 Paris, France

Website: https://maisondebalzac.paris.fr

Hours: Wed-Sun 10am-6pm, closed Mon & Tue

Admission: Free (permanent collections); special exhibitions may charge

Maison de Balzac is a small house museum in the 16th arrondissement of Paris dedicated to the French novelist Honoré de Balzac. It preserves the rooms where Balzac lived and presents manuscripts, editions and personal items related to his life and writing.

Exhibitions focus on Balzac’s working environment, his manuscripts and the social and literary context of his career, using the compact house and rooms to illustrate aspects of his productivity. The museum functions as both a biographical site and a research resource for fans of 19th-century French literature.

Balzac lived in the residence during part of the 19th century, and the building was later restored and converted into a museum to preserve his domestic setting and collections. The house has been adapted to museum use with curated displays and interpretive panels.

The museum is located in the Passy area of Paris’s 16th arrondissement, accessible by local public transport and situated among residential streets a short distance from the Seine and western Paris landmarks.

• Author’s house museum: Located in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, the house preserves Balzac’s former residence and displays original documents and objects linked to the author.

What to See#

• House museum rooms: Period rooms include the writer’s study and reconstructed living spaces exhibiting manuscripts, first editions and personal effects related to Balzac’s life and work.

La Maison de Balzac is at 47 Rue Raynouard in the Passy neighbourhood (16th arrondissement) of Paris. The nearest Métro station is Passy (line 6), a short walk of around 5 minutes from Rue Raynouard.

Several local buses also serve the Passy area; if arriving from central Paris take Metro line 6 to Passy or Trocadéro and walk the short distance along local streets to Rue Raynouard.

• Check the museum's opening hours on the City of Paris website before you go - the house is small and hours can be limited or different from large Paris museums.
• Plan for a short visit (30-45 minutes) and head upstairs: the writer's working rooms and small displays showing original editions and personal items are the highlights most visitors make a quick pass by.
• If you're combining cultural stops in the 16th arrondissement, visit Maison de Balzac mid-morning on a weekday to avoid weekend family groups that tend to congregate there.