Four dreamy Paris houses that will make you want to move there
Paris has a storied history of inspiring everyone from artists and musicians to filmmakers and, of course, fashion designers. It is a city of beauty at every turn, with the Seine cutting through Gothic architecture, Belle Epoque motifs and Art Deco details. The buildings are iconic and as lovely inside as out, with parquet flooring and corniced ceilings. The floors creak in that perfect French manner, the ceiling height is generous and the windows far from the UPVC that dominates here. Whether decorating a diminutive apartment on the fifth floor of an historic Saint Germain building, or a townhouse in the villagey surrounds of Auteuil, Paris offers something for everyone and these properties are here to prove it.
Owen Gale1/6A Paris house in the 5th arrondissement
With her heart set on a period property which she could make her own, Alix Reynis jumped on the opportunity to transform this drab-looking house into a family home with energy, beauty and plenty of French sophistication. The house was built in the late 1800s and hadn’t been touched since the 1950s. 'I didn’t fall in love with it straight away. It was in a really bad state', says Alix.
Owen Gale2/6It's here in the living room that the family performs their Sunday ritual. ‘We light the fire, roast chestnuts and eat them with cheese', explains Alix. She designed the sofas, both upholstered in an earthy green velvet which matches the curtains. The gold antique mirrors are offset by the wooden coffee tables and the glitter of a crystal chandelier, found in a brocante.
3/6The vintage-inspired Paris home of a French fashion designer
When Morgane Sézalory – the founder of Sezane – and her husband found this spacious ground-floor apartment, its ornately decorated rooms had laid vacant for several decades. “No one had touched the place for 70 years,” she recounts. Originally constructed in the 1800s, its neglected state meant that a lengthy restoration process was required, which entailed replacing the crumbling structure, ancient wiring, and century-old plumbing.
Sézalory’s starting point for the living room was an antique paper botanical-themed wall hanging she brought home from a trip to Japan. She arranged the space around its earthy palette: vintage sofas upholstered in rich shades of inky blue and gold (the latter a pair of 1970s Corbi seats by Klaus Uredat); a brass lamp shaped like a ginkgo leaf atop a vintage wood side table; a turmeric-colored pattern weave rug by Manufacture Cogolin; and a pop of contrasting coral in the form of velvet cushion by her own brand, Les Composantes.
Art: Henri De Waroquier © 2023 ADAGP, Paris/ ARS, New York4/6To make the small kitchen feel more spacious and bright, Sézalory enlisted the help of an artisan to make a custom mirrored wall, complete with carved frames and cleverly designed ledges where she displays her various collections. The stacked ceramic coffee cups are from Les Composantes, the Braque exhibition poster is vintage, the painting is by Henry de Waroquier, and the stove is Lacanche.
Romain Laprade5/6The tiny but beautiful apartment of Fabrizio Casiraghi
When it came to restoring and decorating his tiny Parisian apartment, designer Fabrizio Casiraghi called on his three favourite elements and balanced them perfectly. While respecting the property’s past as an artist’s studio, Fabrizio has made it a modern space and tailored it neatly to his life.
Fabrizio describes his living room as “a collection of memories.” It has a mirror and sofa which he commissioned for the space, an art deco fireplace and a collection of paintings by his father, which are very close to his heart.
Ambroise Tezenas6/6The 16th arrondissement home of a collector
Terry de Gunzburg's Paris home in the Auteuil neighbourhood is in fact two houses combined, linked by a covered terrace and decorated by the interior designer Jacques Grange. Her passion for rare pieces has prompted her not only to rotate the furniture and objects in her living spaces, many of them from the gallerist Pierre Passebon, but also to open a cabinet of curiosities dedicated to the arts of the table, just a stone’s throw from her cosmetics and perfume boutique in the historic Galerie Véro-Dodat shopping arcade.
