====== The brothel, famous enough to warrant mentioning in the 7-volume encyclopaedia of 1904, who was closely associated with several members at the prestigious
Jockey-Club de Paris. The total cost of the establishment was reported to be the exorbitant sum of 1.7 million
francs. The entrance hall was designed as a bare stone cave; the bedrooms were lavishly decorated, many in their own style:
Moorish, Hindu, Japanese,
Pompeii, and
Louis XVI. The Japanese room won a design prize at the
1900 World Fair in Paris. Madame Kelly died in 1899. The brothels flourished and
Hermann Göring visited Le Chabanais, as is related in the 2009 two-volume book
1940–1945 Années Erotiques by
Patrick Buisson.
Post-World War II The French legal brothels, known as or , were closed by law in 1946, after a campaign by
Marthe Richard. The backlash against the brothels was in part due to their collaboration with the Germans. A 2002 survey showed that, despite the fact that 64% of French people thought that prostitution was "a degrading practice for the image and the dignity of the woman (or the man)", nearly two-thirds believed that reopening the brothels would be a good idea.
Closure and auction On 8 May 1951, the contents of La Chabanais were sold at auction by
Maurice Rheims, publicly revealing the furnishings, furniture and equipment including Edward VII's and his copper champagne bath decorated with a
sphinx. The bath was bought for 110,500 francs by the antiques dealer Jacob Street and was acquired in 1972 by
Salvador Dalí, who placed it in his room at the Hotel Meurice. ==Notable visitors==