Le Chabanais was one of the best known and most luxurious brothels in Paris, operating near the Louvre at 12 rue Chabanais from 1878 until 1946.
It was founded by the Irish-born Madame Kelly, who was closely associated with several members of the prestigious Jockey-Club de Paris. She sold shares in the profitable business to wealthy anonymous investors. The total cost of the establishment was reported to be the exorbitant sum of 1.7 million francs. The entrance hall was designed as a bare stone cave; the bedrooms were lavishly decorated, many in their own style: Moorish, Hindu, Japanese, Pompeii or in the style of Louis XVI. The Japanese room won a design prize at the 1900 World Fair in Paris.
King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, frequently visited the brothel during the 1880s and 1890s. He had his own room in the brothel, with his coat of arms over the bed. The room contained a large copper tub with swan, which he liked to fill with champagne to bathe in with his prostitutes. After the closure of the brothel, Salvador Dalí bought the tub in 1951 for 112 000 francs.
The French government would on occasion include a visit to the Chabanais as part of the program for foreign guests of state, disguising it as "visit with the President of the Senate" in the official program.
Today, the six-story building is used as an apartment house. The Musée de l’Erotisme in Pigalle devotes one floor to the maisons closes. Prince Edward’s love seat is exhibited there, as is Polissons et galipettes, a collection of short erotic silent movies that were used to entertain brothel visitors, and copies of Le Guide Rose, a contemporary brothel guide that also carried advertising.