Palace of Versailles the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be an occasional residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the "king's house". Accordingly, much of the early funding for construction came from the king's own purse, funded by revenues received from his "appanage" as well as revenues from the province of New France (Canada), which, while part of France, was a private possession of the king and therefore exempt from the control of the Parliaments. Once Louis XIV embarked on his building
History of the Palace of Versailles but was never finished due to the king's death. Significant among Louis XV's contributions to Versailles were the "petit appartement du roi"; the "appartements de Mesdames", the "appartement du dauphin", the "appartement de la dauphine" on the ground floor; and the two private apartments of Louis XV – "petit appartement du roi au deuxième étage" (later transformed into the "appartement de Madame du Barry") and the "petit appartement du roi au troisième étage" – on the second and third floors of the palace. The crowning achievements of Louis XV's reign were the construction of the Opéra and the Petit Trianon.