Besharat Gallery

One of the most storied addresses on the Grande Rue. Before Karl Bodmer, this property was used by the American painter William Morris Hunt — who kept his horses here while studying under Millet in Barbizon in the early 1850s. Hunt would go on to become the primary figure who brought the Barbizon School to America, introducing Millet, Rousseau and Corot to Boston's elite circles. He owned Millet's The Sower — purchased for just $60 — along with five major Millet canvases, all of which were destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872. In 1856, Karl Bodmer purchased the property and built the villa he named Les Charmettes — his home and studio for nearly thirty years. In 1884, declining health forced him to sell and move to Paris, where he died in 1893. At his request he was buried in Chailly-en-Bière alongside his fellow Barbizon painters. The hotel was subsequently developed by Mr. Schaller, becoming one of Barbizon's first and most celebrated hotels. Today it operates as Besharat Gallery & Suites — a contemporary art gallery with luxury accommodation, continuing the building's unbroken connection to art and hospitality.