When boutique owner and collector Emmanuel de Bayser outgrew his former Paris apartment – a pied-à-terre used mainly when he was in town to attend fashion weeks and select items for the Corner Berlin, his store in Berlin – he and his partner knew they wanted to stay in the same part of the city.
“The previous apartment was a bit small, since we intended to spend more time in Paris,” de Bayser explains. “But I liked the Parc Monceau area, so I was very pleased when I found this apartment just 200 meters from where we were before.” This part of Paris, he adds, is “pure Haussmannian style” and features many of the hôtels particuliers (grand townhouses) that are so typical of the 19th-century city planner’s designs. “This Paris, and what it offers – architecture, monuments, museums, galleries, restaurants, shops – is a permanent source of inspiration.”
Situated on the étage noble, the coveted second floor of a Haussmann-style building, the apartment came complete with three-meter-high ceilings, classic wooden paneling and beautifully detailed interior moldings. Walk up the stone stairway, complete with wrought-iron banisters and adorned with carved elements, then pass through the doorway of de Bayser’s apartment into a spacious entrance hall, and you are drawn into a veritable cocoon of elegance.
All the original wainscoting and wall paneling, the triple-height interior doors and the wooden skirtings and cornices are perfectly preserved, painted plain white against walls in a slightly warmer, creamier shade, which has the effect of subtly emphasizing and celebrating their refined visual appeal. Floors are mainly original oak parquet, topped by large natural coir rugs. And similarly, the window coverings are luxurious yet minimal: cream ceiling-to-floor curtains and, where required, plain white, semitransparent window blinds for additional privacy.
And yet, what takes these interiors to another level is not the urbane appeal of the “bones” of the building or the sublime simplicity of the backdrop created by floors, windows and walls. Rather, it’s the fact that all of this functions as a supremely elegant frame for the eclectic and very chic furniture, objects and contemporary art that catch and hold de Bayser’s discerning eye.
Asked about his favorite room in the apartment, de Bayser says he enjoys them all but does admit to a special penchant for “the entrance hall, because when I open the main entrance door, it is what I see as I immediately feel at home and safe.”
Photography by Greg Cox.
For more Haussmannian style, be sure to check out this apartment in Paris.
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