Hugo and Architecture
From Stone to Pen

An intimate and essential
relationship with stone

A Romantic writer, accomplished playwright, committed poet, visionary artist and decorator, Victor Hugo maintained a privileged relationship with architecture that inspired him throughout his life. Churches, cathedrals and castles fill his notebooks and give meaning to his stories, foremost among them Notre-Dame Cathedral, a world unto itself in the novel that bears its name.

The chrono-thematic route unfolds in five parts across the museum’s two floors, continuing on from “Hugo the Decorator,” previously presented at the Maison de Victor Hugo.

Hauteville House,
architecture designed from within

During his exile on the Channel Island of Guernsey, Hugo turned Hauteville House into a manifesto-house. Salvaged furniture, carved wood panelling, mottoes and symbols make up what has been called a total work of art, architecture conceived from within, room by room, as one might write a poem. A series of contemporary photographs of this house, preserved almost intact, extends the visit on the museum’s second floor.

In conjunction with the exhibition
“Hugo and Architecture”

Guided talks are offered to all audiences. The podcast “Notre-Dame de Paris, un roman cathédrale” (Notre-Dame de Paris, a Cathedral Novel) gives voice to Victor Hugo’s perspective on architecture, through imagined dialogues grounded in real facts, quotations and excerpts from his writings.

Curator
Alexandrine Achille, curator at the Maison de Victor Hugo

Exhibition “Hugo and Architecture. From Stone to Pen”
From 11 June to 22 November 2026

Maisons de Victor Hugo
6 place des Vosges, 75004 Paris, France