Often compared to Venice for its network of canals, Sète, a charming fishing port between the Mediterranean Sea and an enclosed saltwater lake in Occitania, France, has become a popular destination known for its relaxed ambiance, balmy weather, miles of fine sandy beaches and renowned culinary and cultural scenes.
Increasingly popular with tourists, the area’s pull is even stronger for Adèle Denis, a Paris-based interior designer and area native who recently built a two-story vacation home in the city center – the fulfillment of a longtime dream. “Sète has a very strong identity, with incomparable Mediterranean light, and the cultural scene is very vibrant,” Denis describes, noting that her parents still reside there. “Having a second home there allows me to hold on to and extend my childhood memories.”
Clad with white stucco punctuated by black metal windows and doors, the retreat is also an ideal spot to create new memories. The striking yet simple exterior color palette has been carried inside, where it creates a crisp, gallery-like backdrop for a sophisticated mix of designer furnishings, original artwork and one-of-a-kind objects. “I wanted to create a dialogue between Mediterranean light, natural materials and a selection of ethnic objects collected during my travels,” she relates. “The common thread is a clean, warm and lively style, where each piece tells a story.”
Black accents, including lighting, hardware and pottery, add a touch of drama to the narrative. In the breezy first-floor great room, for example, a sculptural black metal chandelier softly illuminates the surface of a bespoke dining table made with steel beams and a stone top. Positioned next to the stairway to the second floor, an iconic accent chair by Faye Toogood commands attention, playing off the black hardware Denis selected for the fluted doors concealing the nearby built-in cabinetry. “The dark elements structure the space and bring graphic coherence,” Denis notes.
Painted in the same slate-blue paint color as the built-ins in the living area, the fluted cabinetry also elevates the cupboards in the open kitchen, where they have been paired with white marble countertops, an integrated backsplash with sinuous gray veining and a heady mix of rustic artifacts. “The multicultural objects, natural materials, and color palette give the house a real soul,” Denis explains.
The collection, which encompasses rugs, basketry and furnishings, provides a pleasing contrast to the streamlined architecture and restrained material palette. The stairway functions as a quiet gallery in its own right, its walls and landings lined with ceramics and framed works. Such pieces occupy windowsills, tabletops and a long, built-in wooden ledge with a live edge that doubles as a work surface in the upstairs office.
Natural materials such as wicker and jute pull the interior in a more casual direction, befitting a house built for slow mornings and long conversations over cocktails. A patterned, woven rug with rich chocolate and rust tones complements plush furnishings covered in natural linen in the lower-level living area. A second, simpler version anchors a black sofa and matching upholstered ottoman in a conversation area on the upper landing.
Indeed, relishing their new retreat, the designer and her family typically spend entire summers there, as well as many holidays and some weekends, strolling through market halls, taking boat rides along the canals, visiting art galleries and hosting friends and family for summer garden parties that go well into the night. “When I arrive in Sète, it’s an instant return to my roots,” Denis shares. “This house is a refuge, a place that perfectly reflects my world.”
The canals, the light, the long summer nights – some places never really let you go.
Photography by Yann Deret.
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