The Blue and White Houses, also known as the Reichensteinerhof and the Wendelschterferhof, are two neighbouring mansions located at 16 and 18 Reinspring Street. These representative houses are one example of Basel's Baroque architecture. These coincidentally decorated buildings were built simultaneously between 1763 and 1775 for the brothers Lucas and Jakob Sarasin, who owned a silk textile factory. The buildings were designed by architect and builder Samuel Werenfels. The White House belonged to Lucas (1730-1802) and the Blue House to his younger brother Jacob (1742-1802). The descendants of both brothers founded the bank "Sarasin & Cie" in Basel.
Lucas Sarasin kept a detailed diary in 1763-1775, where he not only carefully recorded all the sums of money spent on production needs and wages for the workers, but also wrote down the names of the artists who worked on the interior decoration of both houses. The stucco ceiling decorations by Johann Martin Frohweis and the tile cookers of the faience factory in Bern have survived in the Blue House. A large number of paintings on the doors have also survived. They were painted mainly by German artists.
The Blue House hosted a reception in 1814 in honour of three European rulers: Alexander I, Franz II and Friedrich Wilhelm III.
In 1942 and 1968 the houses became the property of the city of Basel. They now house the offices of the government of the canton of Basel-Stadt.
Tourists are always shown a few stones on the pavement in front of the houses, which differ in colour from the neighbouring ones. It is said that it was to this marker that Napoleon Bonaparte walked in company with local officials in 1797.
