Gustave Eiffel’s Secret Apartment Hidden Inside the Eiffel Tower

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated for the Universal Exposition. Engineer Gustave Eiffel designed a private apartment at the top, furnished with wooden furniture, wallpaper, velvet sofas, bookshelves, and a grand piano. Known as the Bureau de Gustave Eiffel, it served as a laboratory where he received scientists and inventors, including Thomas Edison, who gifted him a phonograph. Eiffel refused numerous lucrative offers to rent or visit the space. After his death, the apartment became a relic, now visible behind glass on the tower’s third level, with wax figures of Eiffel, his daughter Claire, and Edison. In 2016, a temporary apartment was installed on the second floor by interior designer Benoît Leleu for the UEFA Euro football championship, where four contest winners spent a night. The original apartment remains a symbol of romantic seclusion.