A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Julia Barba-Baudlot welcomes us into her chic and cosy duplex that combines the modern grace of a Parisian interior with the rustic charm of her home country, the Philippines.

- Azhar Rahim

For many, Paris is known as the City of Lights or City of Love. For Julia Barba-Baudlot, creator and founder of contemporary accessory brand La Filippine, the latter rang especially true. The Filipina, who was then working for her mother's costume jewellery company, was on a work trip to the city in 2007 to participate in a trade show. During her visit, she had a chance encounter with a Frenchman who would later become her husband.

"A friend had dragged me to a random birthday party. And, coincidentally, my husband was brought there by his friend," recalls the Cebuborn fashion entrepreneur. "But it was not to matchmake us, though. Apparently, the birthday girl did not know many people in Paris then, and we were all there to make the day more special."

The two hit it off and decided to tie the knot after dating for a couple of years. She then moved to Paris to be with her husband. As far as the romance part was concerned, Barba-Baudlot had lucked out. When it came to the Parisian light, however, she had her concerns.

Despite her love for the city, the typical 19th-century Haussmannian architecture that defines Paris and characterises its beautiful residential buildings meant that the apartments were sorely lacking in light. "We were living in a two-bedroom apartment and had a very large living area with long hallways. And because it was a rectangular layout, with small windows that looked into the courtyard, there was hardly any light coming into the apartment," she explains. Plus, as with most Parisian buildings, there was also no lift to their fourth-storey apartment. So, when her husband was posted to Singapore for work, Barba-Baudlot took the opportunity to look for apartments that were the exact opposite.