Live Like an 18th-Century Aristocrat in This Wildly Decorated Parisian Apartment

Listing of the Day 

Location: Paris

Price: €4.2 million (US$4.49 million)

This Rue de Rivoli home in the heart of Paris’s 1st Arrondissement comes with some serious design cachet: For one, it was one of the first major projects of notable French interior designer Didier Rabes, according to listing agent Paola Feau.

While an apartment, the four-level home is large enough to feel like a detached house, and Rabes decorated it lavishly to evoke an 18th-century chateau, complete with chandeliers, mirrored ceilings, Versailles-style parquet flooring and stucco imitation sculptures.

Most of the building dates to the mid-19th century, though there are some remnants of the older Directoire style with its Neoclassical architectural forms, which were popular in the late 1700s, according to Feau.

This particular residence in the building also has the legacy of being the couture workshop of designer Madeleine Vionnet during the early 20th century, Feau said. It was later transformed into a private home, and with recent renovations, it boasts both a distinctive period atmosphere and modern comforts such as an elevator and a large modern kitchen.

Stats

The 3,207-square-foot apartment has four bedrooms with three full bathrooms and two half bathrooms. The apartment is spread over four floors including a lower ground floor, and is entered on the ground floor of the building.

Amenities  

The home boasts a lift that goes between its three main floors, as well as a home office, and a 300-square-foot paved courtyard on the second floor that two of the bedroom suites open onto.

A separate, renovated apartment on the second floor connects to the main house, and can be accessed by both an interior staircase from the main house or through the building’s common areas. With two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, “the apartment could be kept completely separate and rented or used for guests, or it could be used as an extension of the main house,” Feau said. “This little apartment has been fully renovated in a completely modern style, in contrast to the 18th-century-style main house.”

Neighbourhood Notes

Sitting right on the expansive Tuileries Garden, a 17th-century formal garden filled with statues, including 18 bronzes by Aristide Maillol, the location is also within a few minutes’ walk of the Louvre, Place Vendôme and Place de la Concorde, as well as the Jardin des Champs-Élysées.

“It’s one of the best areas in Paris,” Feau said. “It’s very, very central, with all the finest restaurants, fashion and jewellery boutiques and hotels, including Hotel Le Meurice and the Ritz.”

The Place Vendôme has historically been the home of many famous dress designers, with the stores of the couturier Chéruit and the shirtmaker Charvet still in situ.

Agent : Paola Feau, Daniel Feau and Luxury Portfolio International