William Hope’s father had been a clerk for Henry Hope, a member of the well known banking
family (who also gave their name to the “Hope diamond”). Henry was based in Amsterdam and
had no children.

When Henry Hope’s clerk John Williams married his niece he changed his name to John Williams-
Hope.

Their child William Hope inherited a fortune when he turned 21. He decided to move to Paris
where he bought a mansion in rue St Dominique for 700,000 francs in 1838. Over the next four
years he spent an estimated at 7.5 million francs, on enlarging and transforming the property. It
housed his collection of art works and the fabulously decorated reception rooms on the first floor
were the scene of brilliant parties.

Hope’s own private apartment was an enfilade suite on the ground floor. His bedroom was
decorated in the French renaissance style with extremely ornate walls covered in blue and yellow
silk damask. In 1855 he died in his bed in this room.

He had never married and the mansion was sold for 1.2 million francs, a massive loss considering
the millions he spent transforming it.

It is now the Polish Embassy in Paris. His bedroom walls were dismantled and can now be seen at
Les Arts Decoratifs. The original furniture has disappeared. The museum was able to locate a rare
renaissance style bed from the same period.