At the time King Louis XIII lived in the Palace of Versailles there were only 26 habitable rooms. Now that may seem like a rather large estate, but to think that the palace today has 700 rooms puts it into perspective. The King’s suite was the finest and best room and it was located on the first floor of the chateau. It had a closet, and bedroom, a presence chamber (where he received guests) and a dressing room connected by a gallery. In each room the walls were hung with tapestries. The closet tapestry represented goddesses; the bedroom tapestry displayed the history of Mark Anthony. King Louis XIII was not a lavish man and the decor showed it. He preferred simple, and yet a touch of elegance. In his bedroom he had a bed of green damask with three fustian mattresses while the curtains matched the damask. There were two tenaille chairs and six matching stools, a tenaille table and leather carpet. The closet decor consisted of simple pieces as well–a locked chest (upholstered in leather), two trunks, a table with two silver candlesticks, and a writing desk made in Eastern leather. In the closet the kings garments and his games–chess, backgammon, tourniquet, moine– were kept. It is said that a brand new billiard table was the main ornament of this room. You see, Versailles was indeed a place of relaxation, for games, for hunts; no council ever occurred in the king’s closet. In the king’s dressing room there was a commode, a cupboard in which the green velvet dressing table along with another table were kept.
The other rooms were allotted to other people who occupied the entire first floor (which weren’t fancily furnished either). On the grand floor, there was a lumber room with extra pallet beds for guests; then the armory, and further on was the apothecary’s store, the kitchen, and the concierge’s room. There were no rooms for ladies at this time for the castle was first and foremost a man’s castle where King Louis XIII came mainly to hunt. However, this place progressed to be a place of refuge away from the court life for the king.