Guerlain on the Champs-Élysées, the historic private mansion devoted to perfume and beauty

Guerlain on the Champs-Élysées has scented the avenue for more than a century. At 68, the house houses a boutique, heritage, a beauty institute, and exhibitions in a private mansion that has become one of its most iconic addresses.

In Paris, some addresses have the nose to stand the test of time. Officine Universelle Buly brings the apothecary’s charm up to date on Rue Bonaparte, a revival of a centuries-old craft, Guerlain has been part of the Champs-Élysées landscape for more than a century. At 68 avenue des Champs-Élysées, the house has occupied since 1914 a townhouse built for the Guerlain family and today listed among the Monuments historiques. Shop, heritage and beauty intersect at an address where people come for a fragrance as much as to trace the lineage of one of Paris’s premier maisons.

The tour goes beyond the counters. The shop offers a heritage-focused tour of Guerlain's legacy, while the house regularly hosts free photography exhibitions. Upstairs, the Guerlain Institute, founded here in 1939, continues the universe of skincare. Its original decor was entrusted to Jean-Michel Frank, Alberto Giacometti and Christian Bérard; today housed on the top floor, the Institute comprises nine treatment rooms, including a double suite.

Guerlain, she, is much older than the Champs-Élysées outlets. The story begins in Paris in 1828, when Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain opened his first shop on Rue de Rivoli. The move to 68, nearly a century later, marks a turning point: the townhouse now brings together boutique, bureaux, laboratoire et appartements de la famille. The architect Charles Mewès, the man behind the Ritz Paris, conceived the spaces. The project even ran long enough to inspire Jacques Guerlain to create the flacon Tortue, crafted with Baccarat to celebrate the brand’s arrival on the avenue.

When it comes to shopping, fragrance is of course making its comeback. Fragrances, exclusive collections, makeup and skincare make up the offering, with a few house-name staples, from Shalimar to L’Heure Bleue. The 68 also elevates the art of the bottle, with engraving, customization, perfume refills, the Flacon aux Abeilles, and a bespoke fragrance service among the offerings.

At 68 Champs-Élysées, the fragrance comes and goes, but the address stays.