Like many Americans, Steven and Garth love Paris and fantasized about having their own place here. So five years ago, they bought a 50-square-meter (538-square-foot) two-room apartment in a 1780 building in St.-Germain-des-Prés, the 6th arrondissement neighborhood that has long been a magnet for American expats.
They removed old wallpaper, painted walls in rich red and mustard yellow, enlarged and organized the walk-in closet, renovated the bathroom using handmade Moroccan tiles and added cabinets in the kitchen...
They bought the dining table and chairs from the Clingnancourt flea market and the handmade trunk (“a real splurge”) at Goyard on the rue St. Honoré. Deciding that a couch would eat up too much of their compact space, they opted for a pair of mismatched armchairs -- one from an upholstery store at the Viaduc des Arts near the Bastille and a kilim chair and ottoman found at a shop on nearby rue Jacob.
“We have a large house in California that is airy and open with a garden and lots of artisan-made furniture,” says Steven. “Paris, with its deep rich colors and silk drapes and antiques, is more, well, old-European in its look.”
They visit six times a year, loaning the place out to friends and family when they’re in California. Steven runs his own business and works from his laptop while in Paris. But he recently bought a tiny room at the bottom of the stairs which he is renovating into a home-away-from-home office and guest room. We’ll check back once it’s finished to see the result.
- Kristin Hohenadel blogging from rue Vieille du Temple, Paris, France. She can be reached at kristin.hohenadel @ gmail . com
If they ever sold that place, the buyer would probably make the inclusion of those chairs a condition of the sale, because they look so so so so very right with that gorgeous floor.
view Curtis's profile
thé mariage frères! c'est mon préfèré!!
view elizabeth in AL's profile
French kitchens always look good to me.
view Leslie in Adams Morgan's profile
i love the bedroom, and the floors, and the wall colors, and the richness of it all, and the console sink in the bathroom! and, and, and! it's a lovely lovely home!
view kdkaboom's profile
LOVE the floors!!
view I Love Upstate's profile
I am totally coveting your Goyard trunk... I love this space.
view Love Made Visible's profile
I have died (from envy) and gone to heaven. The use of color is so lovely in this apartment - that yellow is especially gorgeous. And I love all the kilims...
view Persephone's profile
Is Kristin simply a genius at finding the most perfectly tiny, romantic, picture-perfect Parisian apartments, or is every apartment there as wonderful as the ones she's showing us? So far every feature from Paris has blown me away.
view palousian's profile
the floors are beautiful, the kitchen is charming and I love the tile in the bathroom
view LaDonnaNichole's profile
steven, garth...
do you guys have any friends who rent out their (ideally equally gorgeous :) ) apartments for a few days at a time to visitors? my boyfriend is taking me to paris for the weekend for my birthday in june, and we were hoping to avoid an absurdly expensive, impersonal hotel....
or, if any other AT readers know of lovely little parisian apartments that one might be able to rent, please do let me know...
thank you,
rachel
view carignane's profile
Dear Rachel,
We've just been in Paris for 3 months. There are literally thousands of apartments for short term rent. Do a google search, get a good map of Paris with the arrondissements and metro stops, and start wading through them. I don't recommend staying near the Eiffel Tower. It's a quiet, sort of boring area and not as metro accesible as other areas (I prefer the 4th, but that's just me).
Kristin,
I have enjoyed your tours and articles so much. I would like to see more tours of apts owned by the French rather than ex-pats living in Paris. It seems like there's a whole different perspective that the French bring- esp the importance of a large dining space!
Thanks again,
Leslie
view ringo's profile
Leslie,
The French are generally more private than we are and so far everyone I've asked has been horrified at the thought of having their apartments photographed. So bear with me while I keep working on it!
As for palousian's comment, the sad truth is that I have seen a lot of depressing and unloved apartments in my 12 years in Paris, and I am obviously trying to show you well-done spaces that are worth celebrating.
view Kristin Hohenadel's profile