The Secret Apartment Gustave Eiffel Built for Himself at the Top of His Tower
At the very top of the Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel kept a small private apartment. He finished it in 1889 as a place to work and host guests. The space had a kitchen, a table, and a few simple furnishings. It gave him a quiet spot to think and to run experiments while the city moved far below. The apartment showed how practical he was, and how much he saw his tower as a tool for science as well as a landmark.
A Hidden Apartment Above Paris
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Serge Melk
Eiffel’s apartment occupied a 100-square-meter space just below the tower’s spire, directly above the third level. It wasn’t lavish, but it was remarkably well-equipped for its time. The elevator shaft and stairwell took up much of the room, leaving only a modest living area.
The walls were lined with patterned wallpaper, and the furniture was made of dark wood This gave the setting a warm and scholarly atmosphere. Eiffel never slept there, but he used it as an exclusive retreat and working office. Its location made it an ideal observatory for his meteorological research and radio experiments, and turned the top of the Eiffel Tower into both a scientific and personal sanctuary unlike any other in the city.
Science and Experiments in the Sky
The height of Eiffel’s space allowed him to study the weather and conduct atmospheric research that couldn’t be done at ground level. He worked on early projects related to air resistance and wind pressure, while gathering data that later helped in aviation development. The apartment also served as a meeting place for engineers and inventors who shared his curiosity about science and technology.
The engineer installed equipment for experiments in radio transmission years before the technology became common. His work there helped demonstrate how the tower could serve as a platform for communications and meteorology, thereby establishing it as more than a monument of steel.
The Guests Who Reached the Summit
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Wellcome Library, London
Only a select group of people ever set foot inside Eiffel’s private space. Among the most famous guests was American inventor Thomas Edison, who met with Eiffel in 1889 and presented him with one of his phonographs—a groundbreaking device for recording sound. That moment is recreated today with wax figures of both men in the restored office.
Eiffel’s daughter Claire, who often helped him manage family matters after her mother’s passing, also appeared frequently at the summit. As time passed, dignitaries and artists visited the Parisian icon, including European monarchs such as King George I of Greece and Leopold II of Belgium, along with performers like Sarah Bernhardt and painter Paul Gauguin.
Some guests signed the tower’s Golden Book, a visitor log that Eiffel kept in the quarters. These visits turned his private office into a setting of intellectual exchange, where royalty, scientists, and artists shared the rare experience of standing nearly 1,000 feet above Paris.
Restoration and Legacy
After the French engineer’s passing in 1923, the room was used to store equipment for broadcasting and telecommunications. Eiffel’s great-granddaughter, Janine Salles, was the last family member to spend time there, and she spent her wedding night there in 1935 when the elevators stopped running after evening hours.
Decades later, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel restored part of the workspace to its late 19th-century appearance. Today, people can view the area through a glass window at the summit.