The Hôtel DuPeyrou is Neuchâtel's finest example of late Baroque civil architecture — a grand sandstone mansion built in the 1760s at the top of the old town, surrounded by formal gardens with a long terrace looking over the lake. The building now functions partly as a restaurant and event venue.
The exterior is what most visitors come for: the proportions are elegant, the stone glows the same warm yellow as the castle above, and the gardens in summer are genuinely beautiful. The connection to Rousseau adds an intellectual layer — Neuchâtel was a place of refuge and correspondence for the philosopher, and the house was at the centre of that network.
The terrace restaurant is one of the better spots for lunch in Neuchâtel, with lake and Alps views on clear days.