# Gustave Eiffel's Secret Apartment



## Meanderer (Jun 14, 2021)

High atop the Eiffel Tower is a small apartment built exclusively to entertain the science elite and make the rest of Paris jealous.​






"When the Eiffel Tower opened in 1889 to much wonder and acclaim, designer Gustave Eiffel soaked up the praise, but as if that wasn’t enough, it was soon revealed that he had built himself a small apartment near the top of the world wonder garnering him the envy of the Paris elite in addition to his new fame.
Located on the third level of the tower, Eiffel’s private apartment was not large, but it was cozy. In contrast to the steely industrial girders of the rest of the tower, the apartment was reported to be, “furnished in the simple style dear to scientists.” The walls were covered in warm wallpaper and the furniture included soft chintzes, wooden cabinets, and even a grand piano, creating a comfortable atmosphere, perched nearly 1,000 feet in the air". Adjacent to the small apartment were some laboratory areas equipped with the experimentation gear of the day".

"Once word got out about Eiffel’s cozy little nest in the sky, Parisian high society turned simultaneously green with jealousy. Eiffel is said to have received a number of sky-high (pun intended) offers to rent out the space, even for one night. He declined them all, preferring to use the space for quiet reflection and to entertain prestigious guests such as Thomas Edison himself who gifted Eiffel one of his newfangled phonograph machines".

Know Before You Go​"Today, after being off limits for years, the apartment can be viewed through a window by visitors who buy a ticket to the top. Much of the furnishings remain the same and there are a couple of rather wan-looking mannequins of Eiffel and Edison".


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## hollydolly (Jun 20, 2021)

I've been up the Eiffel tower many  years ago, I never knew anything about this....Probably if we'd taken a guide we might have learned about it...


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