Ernest Sanson (1836 -1918)
At the age of 18, Ernest Sanson was accepted into the prestigious L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. One early commission was the restoration of the Château Chaumont for the Prince de Broglie. Sanson eventually became the French aristocracy’s most sought after architect. His Palais Rose (Hôtel de Castellane) was the most spectacular Parisian mansion built during the “Belle Époque”.  His first American commission was an elaborate residence built in Washington DC in 1910 for Perry Belmont. A year later, Sanson was awarded France’s highest award, becoming a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Carolands was Sanson’s second and final American project, commissioned in 1913 for Harriett Pullman Carolan. Sanson died in Paris at the age of 82.