Goût Rothschild

Le goût Rothschild, French for the Rothschild taste, is a detailed and elaborate style of interior decoration and aristocratic living that originated in France, Britain, Austria and Germany during the nineteenth century, developed by the Rothschild banking family at the height of its influence. The style favors lavish materials such as damask, brocade and velvet, extensive gilding, ornate stucco ceilings and fine wood paneling, with furniture typically referencing eighteenth-century French periods from Louis XIV to Louis XVI, and Rothschild houses frequently incorporated genuine architectural fragments salvaged from neglected historic castles and palaces. Notable examples include Waddesdon Manor and Mentmore Towers in England and the Chateau de Ferrieres and Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in France. The taste later shaped other wealthy families including the Astors, Vanderbilts and Rockefellers, becoming central to the American Gilded Age, and its influence persisted into the twentieth century through designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Robert Denning.