On 12 December , under the Second Republic , the French Parliament passed a law declaring the building the official residence of the French president.
In , it was purchased by Nicolas Beaujon , banker to the court and one of the richest men in France, who needed a suitably sumptuous "country house" for the city of Paris did not yet extend this far to house his fabulous collection of great masters paintings. The gardens were used for eating, drinking, and dancing, under the name Hameau de Chantilly, and the rooms became gambling houses.
Between and , the palace was primarily used to host guests of the royal family. Following the French Revolution of and the abdication of Louis Philippe I , the provisional government of the Second Republic took over the palace. A discreet flat in the nearby presidential annexe Palais de l'Alma housed his mistress Anne Pingeot , mother of his illegitimate daughter Mazarine Pingeot.
That year, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy decided to stop organising this event because of France's high debt and the economic crisis.
Emmanuel Macron , the President of France since , currently resides at the palace. A monumental gate with four Ionic order columns, flanked by walls topped by a balustrade, opens onto a large rounded courtyard.
