Built in the 1870s, this French Renaissance style house was the private residence of Grigore Paucescu, an influential politician and lawyer. The proximity to the Royal Palace emphasises the role this man played in Romanian society. Indeed, he regularly hosted a number of the most famous writers from the Romanian literary pantheon: Mihai Eminescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, and Alexandru Vlahuta to name a few. However, following Paucescu’s death in 1897, the ruling Austro-Hungarian Empire seized the building to house its diplomatic ministers until the empire’s demise in 1918. Alas, the present-day building is smaller than the original, as it was reduced to allow for the construction of the University Foundation.