A few years before Napoléon Bonaparte became emperor of France, his first wife, Josephine de Beauharnais, bought an estate while he was away in Egypt. Château de Malmaison—which is located nine miles west of central Paris—was a grand but derelict old property, and when the future ruler returned, the couple decided it needed extensive renovations. They hired Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, young architects and decorators who would famously go on to help create the design style called Empire.

Josephine grew up on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Her first husband was beheaded during the French Revolution, and she was imprisoned herself during the Reign of Terror. She was an independent woman, knowledgeable about design, as well as plants and gardens, and Malmaison became a lifelong passion. The Bonapartes were unable to have children, and Napoléon, desperate for an heir, divorced Josephine in 1809. But he insisted she keep her title and he gave her Malmaison. She lived at the château until her death five years later.

France offers so many important historical sites, and Malmaison often gets overlooked. It became a museum in 1906, and the interiors (full of tented rooms, custom cabinetry, rich tapestry, and monumental furniture) and gardens (designed in the English style by, among others, Louis-Martin Berthault) are a wonder to behold.

Join me on a tour of Josephine and Napoléon’s château.