Revisiting the mysterious locked Paris apartment "discovered" in 2010

Remember?  

The article that started it all:   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8042281/Parisian-flat-containing-2.1-million-painting-lay-untouched-for-70-years.html

The exact location has since been challenged, but was originally said to be located at 2 square La Bruyère in the 9th arrondissement. 

An apartment that had been locked and forgotten, and when entered was every child's dream.

Magical.

Rooms full of dusty treasures.

Unseen for many years.

Who did the apartment belong to?

Why was it abandoned?

Why was it suddenly discovered and unlocked?

Since then we've learned a lot.

There is a lot of information available, but, unsurprisingly, much of it is incorrect, or conjecture.

And - there are some who still believe the entire story is a hoax.

The aparttment was owned originally by a French demimondaine and socialite by the name of Marthe de Florian.  

Research reveals her original name to be Mathilde Heloise Beaugiron, 9 September 1864 – 29 August 1939.

Marthe's son,  Henri Beaugiron, died in the apartment in 1966.

Henri's daughter, Solange Beaugiron, inherited the apartment.  The rent and expenses were paid regularly until her death in June 2010 at the age of 91. As a result, everything the apartment contained, including many paintings, furniture and all the usual elements of early 20th-century life remained intact for several decades.

Some reports say the contents of the apartment were auctioned off in 2010.

Some reports say the only thing auctioned off was a portrait of Marthe de Florian painted by Giovanni Boldini which sold for $2.5 million, although some say $3.5 million.

Further reports state that the apartment belongs in the de Florian/Beaugiron estate and still exists, sealed, somewhere in Paris, left exactly as it was found when it was opened for the first time in 2010. 

NOTE:   These two articles are the best of the stories I found about Marthe de Florian, her family and the apartment.  Fascinating!! - 

https://monagiza.com/stories/research-team-found-a-secret-inside-an-abandoned-apartment-in-paris-that-had-been-hidden-for-70-years/

and

https://randybigham.wixsite.com/pastfashion/single-post/2014/05/01/The-story-behind-the-indigenous-towns-of-Guatemala

There are a few novels inspired by Marthe de Florian's apartment.  Here are the ones I know about and have read:

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable

The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman

Additional Sources:  I encourage you to take a look at these.  They are interesting, mysterious and fun!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthe_de_Florian

http://www.astoriedstyle.com/a-look-into-the-past-an-untouched-1942-paris-apartment/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323297/Inside-Paris-apartment-untouched-70-years-Treasure-trove-finally-revealed-owner-locked-fled-outbreak-WWII.html

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/untouched-1940s-paris-apartment-inspires-thrilling-new-novel

http://www.citizenbrooklyn.com/topics/pov/a-rich-woman-abandoned-this-apartment-in-1942-what-they-just-found-inside-is-incredible/#:~:text=Share%20this%3A&text=Madame%20de%20Florian%20was%20a,to%20it%20after%20the%20war.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/05/26/madame-de-florians-1942-apartment-found-untouched-with-a-painting-worth-nearly-25-million-2/

https://beautifulbuildings.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/time-capsule-apartment-in-paris-found-untouched-for-70-years/

http://lolosfrenchbloguette.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-tale-of-two-madames.html

Happy Reading!!!