PERIOD DRAMA

THIS PARIS HOME SKILFULLY ALLOWS ART DECO, MID-CENTURY MODERN AND ULTRA-CONTEMPORARY STYLES TO THRIVE IN A 17TH-CENTURY SHELL

- Judy Diamond

Picture the scene: you’ve been commissioned to remodel an apartment in a 17th-century mansion in the middle of Paris. You’re expecting great things: elaborate cornicing, imposing fireplaces, parquet flooring at the very least – all the flamboyant details that come with an authentic slice of heritage living. You open the door… and nothing. There are no remnants of former glories, no reminders of the wealthy blue-bloods who must once have lived it up here, just bare, ordinary walls and floors.

That was the situation facing Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet a couple of years ago when they were asked to turn the space into a home. If they were disappointed, they got over it quickly: there was a lot of work ahead. The French architecture and design practice took what was effectively a blank canvas and created almost every element of the interior, arranging the layout, repositioning internal walls and doorways, inserting a staircase, designing light fittings, making the key pieces of furniture and much more. “When the owners first asked us to look at the property, it was in fact two separate apartments, one above the other,” recalls Emil Humbert. “The two floors were not connected. And their interiors were very plain, with nothing special about them at all apart from the high ceilings. The parquet, the mouldings, the period details were all completely gone. We had to give it back its soul and its heart. We had to recreate everything. Only once these elements were in place were we able to add more contemporary touches.”