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This apartment’s address is about as prestigious as you’ll find in Paris, just a stone’s throw from the Élysée Palace, where France’s President resides. The Haussmann-era apartment had once been divided in two but its new owner, an art collector, hoped to turn this 540-square-foot space into an elegant—but not showy—pied-à-terre. “There were no beautiful moldings and no balcony overlooking the street, but it did have tall windows opening onto a charming historic courtyard and 10-and-a-half-foot-high ceilings. The surface was a blank page,” says the architect Adeline Hémonnot, whose mission was to restore some grandeur to rooms that had lost their original character. To do this, she worked with Sophie and Florian Libéral, the decorator/designer duo from Sensible Paris, and Anne Sirot, an art curator, during every stage of the project.
Many architects will tell you that their designs lose some coherence after their first encounters with clients. It is the rare project where the entire interior is thought out beforehand, down to the smallest detail, with each piece of furniture in its place and every work of art located where it was originally imagined. “Usually, when we embark on a project, we end up adjusting and readjusting,” Florian says. “Sometimes the architect has been given a shopping list and other times the owners have started on their own search as well.” Then a curator may also join the team, adding more touches that need to be incorporated into the design. “It is important to understand that what I offer clients is art chosen for a specific setting. I am not creating another art gallery,” explains Anne. “My choices are particular to the place, its history, and that of the occupants.” It’s an observation that applies to all the members of the creative team behind this home.
At the entrance, a light waxed concrete floor unifies the surface in a contemporary and sober tone, while the round cornices on the ceiling are elegant without being ostentatious. The black doors are embellished with a contrasting white circle—the detail provides an appealing sense of three-dimensional depth. The two symmetrical entrances from the living room to the kitchen have ornamental frames in rosewood-stained oak veneer, evoking the palazzos of southern Italy. They’re also crowned with a circle, the motif providing a sense of continuity. Other similar veneered woodwork punctuates the space and gives a certain dignity to the kitchen, the bedroom, and the dressing room. The stained veneer elements play another role: In many places, their dark color provides a perfect backdrop for the works chosen by Anne.
Vintage and contemporary intermingle and the palette of materials includes ceramics, burnt wood, wrought metal, leather, fabrics, wool, concrete, and more. Despite its eclectic materials and styles, the space doesn’t feel overloaded. The pinkish tones and the round forms of much of the art, furniture, and architecture contrast with the strength and energy of the dark woodwork. The former small apartment has become the delicate and enveloping cocoon of a collector.
On one wall of the living room, there is a large abstract painting in calm colors by Renaud Barse. On another, the lines of Johanna de Clisson’s sculptures interact with a sofa by Pierre Paulin, a G2 floor lamp by Pierre Guariche, a fiberglass stool by Lukas Cober, and a table by Valentin Loellmann in fire-blackened oak. In the bedroom, on a cream-colored wall, a 17th-century Flemish curiosity cabinet sits next to contemporary drawings and a concrete sculpture by Mattia Listowski. The owner finds herself wrapped in softness in a space that embodies the art of living, with a decor perfectly suited to her and no one else.
This home tour was first published by AD France.
