For his unique creativity and selflessness, he was always attended by Louis XIV and eventually became a trusted advisor to the monarch.

His mother was a cousin of Jules Hardouin-Mansart and his father, also named Jacques Gabriel, was a masonry contractor for the Bâtiments du Roi, the French royal works, and the designer of the Château de Choisy for the king's cousin, Anne D'Orléans.

The younger Jacques Gabriel was appointed one of the controlleurs généraux at the Bâtiments du Roi in 1688, at the age of 21.

Two years later he was sent to accompany Robert de Cotte on an eighteen-month sojourn in Italy, sharpening his eye, and on his return was made one of the Autres Architectes in the Bâtiments du Roi, where he proved an efficient administrator.

Pierre-Jean Mariette's Architecture françoise offers plates illustrating several hôtels particuliers by Gabriel.