It was built at the request of Louis XIV as a retreat for himself and his maîtresse-en-titre of the time, the Marquise de Montespan, and as a place where he and invited guests could take light meals (collations) away from the strict etiquette of the royal court.

The façade was made of white and blue Delft-style porcelain (ceramic) tiles from the French manufactures of Rouen, Lisieux, Nevers and Saint-Cloud.

Hardouin-Mansart's early plans for the building were substantially altered during construction, with the original intention of keeping the core of the Trianon de porcelaine intact vetoed in favor of an open-air peristyle with a screen of red marble columns facing onto the garden.

[2] The long interior gallery which forks west from the main wing was built on the spot of a favorite outdoor promenade that Louis XIV enjoyed at the old Trianon de porcelaine.

[citation needed] In the later years of Louis XIV's reign, the Trianon was the residence of the King's sister-in-law Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Dowager Duchess of Orléans and known at court as Madame.

The king's youngest grandson, Charles de France, and his wife Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans also resided there.

The next royals to live at the Grand Trianon were the King and Queen of the French – Louis Philippe I and his Italian wife Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies.

Louis Philippe made sanitary alterations to the Grand Trianon, moving the kitchens and offices to the basement and adding plumbing.

Despite these changes "the general character of the palace was unchanged, and even the original arrangement of the rooms was preserved," according to Pierre de Nolhac.

A popular site today for tourists visiting Versailles, it is also one of the French Republic's presidential residences used to host foreign officials.