🥐☕️ Paris Je T'aime
Paris must have a marketing firm like Agence Grateau working overtime lately. Between updates about the $1.5 billion infrastructure project to make the Seine swimmable, the audacious Olympics opening ceremony, the games themselves, and now the new season of Emily in Paris, we’ve had non-stop chatter about Paris for weeks.
Beyond Paris, the Olympics and Emily in Paris also share two things: audacity and mixing old with the new. Nothing moves me quite like someone having a bold new vision for something and fully committing to achieving that vision. It’s equally true about home design, creating an Olympic opening ceremony outside the confines of a stadium, or the bold outfits of Emily in Paris. It might not be my taste, but I have to respect it.
This issue’s apartments are the best mixtures of old and new that celebrate French history.
Renaissance Apartment
Location: Odéon - 6th Arrondissement
List Price: €2,190,000
Listing: https://www.proprietesparisiennes-sothebysrealty.com/en/paris-real-estate/ref-pp6-1004/sale-apartment-paris-3-rooms-75006/
It was le coup de foudre the second I saw this apartment. The apartment is on the noble floor of a 17th-century mansion, overlooking a quiet street. The most impactful thing when you come through the front door is the sheer volume of the space and the size of the windows in the back. But then as you trace your eyes up 4 meters (13 feet), you see the star of the show: hand-painted King Louis XIII-style ceiling beams.
The designers echo the ceiling colors across the apartment on the walls and doors and kept other original details like the stone fireplace and Versailles parquet flooring. Everything else in the apartment is a mixture of old and new.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be a fan of a modern white kitchen in a space like this, but here I think the wood tones complement the warm tones on the walls and the ceiling, and the white helps the focus be on the architecture of the space, instead of the cabinets.
I also love the soft white carpet and walls in the bedroom. It’s a moment of tranquility in a space (and a city) that has a lot going on. Although laying in bed and taking in the intricacies of a Renaissance ceiling sounds like a pretty chic alternative to counting sheep…
Art Deco Penthouse
Location: Muette - 16th Arrondisement
List Price: €15,100,000
Listing: https://www.proprietesparisiennes-sothebysrealty.com/en/paris-real-estate/ref-pp2-3003/sale-penthouse-paris-10-rooms-4-bedrooms-75016/
Where better to celebrate Art Deco architecture than the city where Art Deco was born? This penthouse duplex was recently renovated by its art collector owner with exacting standards to bring the apartment back to its roots. The materials and finishes were inspired by prominent French Art Deco designers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Royère, Albert Cheuret, and Jean-Michel Frank.
Having a conversation with the owner about the design process and all of the specific references they used would be so fascinating to me. I mean look at the details they paid attention to. The doors alone have a unique grain pattern, carved panels, and brass grills with fan-shaped perforations.
I’m also such a sucker for a classic bathroom like this. I love that they play with pattern on the floor tile, so it’s not you’re average checkerboard black and white. The custom stained glass (apparently designed by French architect Michel Roux-Spitz) is breathtaking, and it’s repeated in several spaces throughout the apartment.
But it’s not just the design details of the apartment that make it one of a kind. This 1400 sq ft apartment also has an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower and more than 500 sq. ft. of lush garden space on the top floor. It’s like having a personal Bois de Boulogne.
Gallery Penthouse
Location: St. Georges - 9th Arrondisement
List Price: €3,250,000
Listing: https://www.proprietesparisiennes-sothebysrealty.com/en/paris-real-estate/ref-pp6-1029/sale-apartment-paris-3-rooms-2-bedrooms-75009/
In my Emily-inspired fantasies about running away to Paris for a professional adventure (being an estate agent with Espaces Atypiques, naturally 💁♀️), this is exactly the kind of apartment I fantasize about living in. The main living space has tons of space for collecting art, furniture, and books- no doubt carrying on the legacy and intention of the man who built the mansion it’s housed in, internationally famous art dealer Adolphe Goupil.
The 7-meter-high (23 feet) ceiling is capped with a skylight running the length of the space, flooding the apartment with natural light and showcasing the enormous, detailed crown molding. The loft-style mezzanine level has a front-row seat to the details. I can’t imagine a more inspiring home office- surrounded by all of your books, art, and the historic beauty of the space.
And just in case you don’t want to feel like you’re living in an art gallery all the time, the bedroom offers a more traditional Parisian apartment feeling with a Juliette balcony overlooking the street. A second patio with greenery is just off the bathroom.
Art Nouveau Duplex
Location: 8th Arrondisement
List Price: €2,950,000
Listing: https://www.architecturedecollection.fr/en/product/duplex-art-nouveau-jules-lavirotte-paris-8/
While the rest of the world may be losing its color, this apartment hasn’t gotten the memo. Housed in a former music salon of a private mansion designed in 1907 by famous Art Nouveau architect Jules Lavirotte, the apartment centers around a 6-meter high lounge with spectacular curved windows at the heart. The current owners oversaw an extensive renovation to recreate the original decor and bring the space back to its former splendor.
Almost every corner of the apartment has something you won’t find anywhere else. Round walls, colorful stained glass, and sinuous woodwork (the bathrooms and kitchen are still modern). Honestly, I think with the right touch you could renovate this apartment even further to honor its stylistic roots while also making sure that it feels modern and not like a time capsule.
Like I said, I love committing to a bold vision.
Bonus
We can hate on Emily and the Olympic opening ceremony as being ringarde, but Aya Nakamura’s music video for Pookie proves that even the coolest artists use a similar aesthetic from time to time
This charming Anglo-Norman-style townhouse steps away from where the Hästens campaign was placed is for sale for €2.6m.
The next time I’m in Paris, I plan on doing this walking tour of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings of the 16th, and not because Emily filmed the sunscreen launch party at the Piscine Molitor. If you wanted to do an Emily walking tour though, the city has you covered.
Carol from Paris, Je T’aime will always be my original and favorite Emily in Paris
Omg to work from that loft office with a USM desk, surrounded by books. Surely would increase my productivity
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