# Maisons-Laffitte

Maisons-Laffitte (French pronunciation: ) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the northern Île-de-France region of France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of northwestern Paris, 18.2 km (11.3 mi) from its centre.
Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century, and its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse. Église Saint-Nicolas was built between 1867 and 1872.

## History

Originally called Maisons-sur-Seine (meaning "Houses upon Seine"), the commune was officially renamed Maisons-Laffitte in 1882 in honour of banker Jacques Laffitte who financed the housing developments on the estate of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte.
The Château de Maisons-Laffitte has a secret passage to what once used to be part of the Château de Maisons-Laffitte but which is now a school – Collège de l'Ermitage.

## Population

| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1793 | 799 | — |
| 1800 | 711 | −1.65% |
| 1806 | 733 | +0.51% |
| 1821 | 826 | +0.80% |
| 1831 | 916 | +1.04% |
| 1836 | 1,087 | +3.48% |
| 1841 | 1,422 | +5.52% |
| 1846 | 1,405 | −0.24% |
| 1851 | 1,560 | +2.12% |
| 1856 | 1,752 | +2.35% |
| 1861 | 2,175 | +4.42% |
| 1866 | 2,720 | +4.57% |
| 1872 | 3,330 | +3.43% |
| 1876 | 3,247 | −0.63% |
| 1881 | 3,725 | +2.78% |
| 1886 | 4,380 | +3.29% |
| 1891 | 4,744 | +1.61% |
| 1896 | 5,622 | +3.45% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1901 | 6,730 | +3.66% |
| 1906 | 8,149 | +3.90% |
| 1911 | 9,674 | +3.49% |
| 1921 | 10,571 | +0.89% |
| 1926 | 12,026 | +2.61% |
| 1931 | 13,573 | +2.45% |
| 1936 | 13,040 | −0.80% |
| 1946 | 13,074 | +0.03% |
| 1954 | 15,481 | +2.13% |
| 1962 | 19,132 | +2.68% |
| 1968 | 24,223 | +4.01% |
| 1975 | 23,504 | −0.43% |
| 1982 | 22,595 | −0.56% |
| 1990 | 22,173 | −0.24% |
| 1999 | 21,856 | −0.16% |
| 2009 | 22,717 | +0.39% |
| 2014 | 23,705 | +0.86% |
| 2020 | 23,204 | −0.36% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2020) :

## Landmarks

Maisons-Laffitte is famous for the Château de Maisons-Laffitte, built by architect François Mansart in the 17th century. Maisons-Laffitte is also known for its horse racing track, the Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse, which is why the town is known as the "cité du cheval" and compared with Newmarket in the United Kingdom.
Église Saint-Nicolas was mainly built between 1867 and 1872 under architect Eugène Millet, on the land of an old cemetery. It was consecrated in 1872 by Jean-Pierre Mabile, the bishop of Versailles.

## Transport

Maisons-Laffitte is served by Maisons-Laffitte station on Paris RER line A and on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.

## Notable residents

* Pape-Philippe Amagou, basketball player
* Grégory Baugé, cyclist
* Eugène Louis Bouvier, zoologist
* Jean Cocteau, writer, filmmaker, and artist
* Jerzy Giedroyc, founder and editor of a leading Polish-émigré literary-political journal, Kultura
* Philippe Jaroussky, opera singer
* Coralie Lassource, handball player
* René Le Roy (1898–1985), classical flautist
* Odd Nerdrum, painter
* Randy de Puniet, motorcycle racer
* Anne Queffélec, pianist
* Yvonne Rokseth, composer and musicologist
* Emma Watson (until the age of five), actress
* James Winkfield, jockey, horse trainer
* Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite known for her association with Jeffrey Epstein

## Education

Public schools:
* Six preschools/nurseries (maternelles): Bois-Bonnet, Clos-Lainé, Cocteau, Colbert, La Renarde, Montebello
* Four elementary schools: Jehan Alain/André Ledreux, Colbert, Le Prieuré, Mansart
* Junior high schools (collèges): Jean Cocteau and Le Prieuré
* Senior high schools/sixth-form colleges: Lycée Évariste Galois (Sartrouville) and Lycée Les Pierres Vives (Carrières sur Seine)
Private schools:
* International School of France / L'Ermitage (preschool to senior high)
* Sainte-Marie (preschool and elementary)
* Ecole Montessori Internationale

## Twin towns – sister cities

Since 2023, Maisons-Laffitte is exclusively and reciprocally twinned with Arkadag city, Turkmenistan.