Finally ! More than thirty years after the death of Serge Gainsbourg, the house at 5 bis, rue de Verneuil, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, where the artist lived for twenty-two years, will open to the public on September 20. His daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg, behind the initiative, procrastinated for a long time – “I backed out because it was a bit what I had left of him, so I kept it like a treasure” -, and other difficulties delayed its implementation. Here’s what to remember from the opening to the general public of the Gainsbourg Museum.

Visitors will have access to two spaces linked to the interpreter of “La Javanaise”. First the house at 5 bis, rue de Verneuil, which Gainsbourg occupied for twenty-two years, former stables arranged on two floors. After this “immersion in the intimate”, as Charlotte points out, they will also be able to enjoy a museum just opposite, at 14th street, retracing the life of the artist through sound archives, videos and private collections (nearly 450 personal items, manuscripts, clothing, jewelry, etc.). This second space, which will offer temporary exhibitions as a bonus, will also include a bookstore and the “Gainsbarre”, a café and piano bar.

Fans will be able to touch the soul of the artist as closely as possible by strolling through his private rooms, painted black, in particular his living room with piano, sculptures and art deco bar in lacquered wood. Serge Gainsbourg had already turned his house into a real museum, with rooms overflowing with memorabilia, works of art, trinkets and collections exhibited in a precise and meticulous way, like a cabinet of curiosities. “When the disorder is inside, order must settle outside”, used to say the master of the place. Nothing has changed since his death in 1991: everything has remained frozen, as it is, his cigarette butts are even lying around in the ashtrays…

The idea of ??opening rue de Verneuil to the public has long been in the mind of Charlotte, who inherited the property. The project had been mentioned more than twenty years ago, before being abandoned: too many emotions, an administrative headache, a complicated space to fit out for the general public… In 2014, Charlotte moved to New York to find inspiration and distance herself from still painful memories – she had just lost her sister Kate Barry. It was on her return that she worked on the file again and announced that she was finally ready to open the premises to fans, who regularly came to draw graffiti on the facade, in homage to the singer. She then counts on 2021, to celebrate the thirty years of the disappearance of her father. But the health crisis does not allow such tight deadlines to be met…

This is the other complex part of the file. It was necessary to obtain a building permit to transform the premises into a museum, renovate the glass roof on the courtyard, create an elevator for people with reduced mobility, level the floors, develop a route respecting the standards… Not to mention the purchase just in front of a former garage to create the reception area and the annex museum. Charlotte took up the challenge by creating a “société d’exploitation de l’hôtel particulier de Serge Gainsbourg” and even obtained the help of the Île-de-France region, which granted her the label “heritage of regional interest”. , freeing several hundreds of thousands of euros to support the work.

Entrance tickets are available on the online site (maisongainsbourg.fr), at the price of 12 euros per person for the museum and 25 euros for the ticket coupled with the historical visit of the house. It is imperative to reserve your place, because the narrow layout of the premises does not allow you to wander around as you please in the private areas. Only groups of about ten people will be admitted, with helmets available where you can hear memories and original soundtracks. Charlotte Gainsbourg hopes to welcome 100,000 people in the first year.