Petit Trianon

I'm slowly re-creating this beautiful gem of a palace in SecondLife® and I thought I would use this page to summarize my adventures during this journey.  Here we go!!

From its inception, Trianon was distinguished by its dedication to a lady, usually a young and beautiful one: by the magnificence of its flowerbeds and sophistication of its gardens: and by the official order that walking through the gate was by invitation only.*

Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's maîtresse-en-titre, was indeed the beautiful lady behind what is now considered among the most perfect buildings in France, the Petit Trianon.  Pompadour, encouraging the king's passion for botanical gardens, had already been instrumental in the development of this little piece of Trianon land including the addition of the French Pavilion in 1750.

This marvelous little chateau was designed at Pompadour's request by Ange-Jacques Gabriel and constructed from 1762 to 1768.  Marie Antoinette took possession in 1774, working her own magic on the palace, gardens and surrounding estate.

Hailed as a masterpiece, at first glance the Petit Trianon appears deceptively simple, a modest cube with no grand flourishes.  Further inspection reveals a wealth of wonderful details and an excellent use of proportions that have kept me charmed & fascinated for many years now. 

My adventures re-creating the Petit Trianon in the virtual world of SecondLife® are absolute pleasures.  I know that I will never be able to do justice to the original but this is truly a case where the journey and not the destination is the point of the exercise.  I invite you to follow along with me!

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See all my posts related to the Petit Trianon.

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My SL Project Timeline:

May 2012:  Placed Information Posters (including Floor Plan & a link back to this page)  in the main rooms.  Began the process of texturing the Main Floor interior with generic panelling to make the space more appealing.  Will keep working on authentic detailing which is a very slow process for me.

March 2012: Improvements to SL building tools were just what was needed to help get this project off the ground again. I pulled the whole place apart and started again!!  Petit Trianon: French Garden Parterre SL

April 2012:  Completed the boiserie for the Petit Trianon Salon.  The creation of Salon chairs lead me to rethinking the proportions used in the build which I then proceeded to tweak.

October 2011: Completed The French Pavilion in le Jardin Français.

2010:  Worked on building up the Queen's Hamlet, including The Boudoir, The Queen's House and The Guard's House.  This effort including the creation of furniture, accessories etc. and is still ongoing.

June 2009:  Added a new region for Le Jardin Français of the Petit Trianon.  A New Summer Love

May 2009:  My first attempt at the exterior, Started the interior with the Ground Floor including the Billard Room, Argenterie, Kitchen etc.  Spent forever working on the Main Staircase but it definitely still needs a lot of work.

February 2008:  Joined SecondLife® with the idea of re-creating the Petit Trianon & the Queen's Hamlet.  As building for TheSims2 taught me, these are more "bite-sized" projects in comparison to Versailles ;)

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*Quoted from Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles.