NATHALIE’S APARTMENT

One of the most special things about living in Paris are the luscious interiors of

apartments that can only be created here in a place that fosters such emotion

and history and charm.  The architecture of the building plays an extremely

important role in a truly Parisian apartment so that it cannot be authentically

done in just any building.  Needed are the winding staircases that must be

climbed in order to find such an abode, or the tiny and discreet elevators that

hold only one or two persons.  There is just such a Parisian apartment owned

by my friend Nathalie, and the first time I entered it I knew I had entered

this truly remarkable world which one usually only visits by way of a page

of a glossy magazine.

 

The apartment is located in a typical Parisian building in the tenth

arrondissement on the right bank of Paris, behind a red and white door just

like all of the other doors in the building.  There is a large carriage door at the

street letting you know that long before cars, there were people living here. 

The cobblestone paving is curved and worn and before you even enter the

hallway to the apartments you have stepped into another time and place. 

 

Nathalie’s apartment is indeed a peaceful haven and a sanctuary created with

a most purposeful passion. Opening the heavy front door with a key that looks

like it belongs to a vault rather than a home there lays a cool white marble

floor, which quickly gives way to rich, old French parquet just beyond.  The

foyer is lit by a narrow long and typical French window which reluctantly

opens with a twist of a heavy metal latch and looks out to the slim cylindrical

cour, it’s sills filled with plants overgrown and reaching for the sun four flights

above.  A heavy and ornate marble topped entry table filled with heirloom china

and photos sits between the window and the kitchen door topped by a gilded

mirror which is almost mandatory in all true Parisian apartments.

 

Stepping off the marble floor and onto the parquet you can hear the history

of this space being spoken with each step in gentle creaks and groans.  Just

off the foyer is the salon, which you enter through large floor to ceiling paneled

doors edged in delicate moldings.  These doors as well as the salon itself are

all painted in a soft grey green of varying shades to create shadows and light

in a most subtle way and immediately create a sense of peace and invitation. 

A small table topped with ancestral photos sits just inside the door to the left

next to a Louis XV style settee upholstered in a tapestry of muted colors of grey. 

The settee faces a long marble topped table which sits on scrolled iron legs and

could easily seat up to ten fortunate guests, but only three other chairs

surround it keeping it cozy and intimate.  The chairs are also Louis XV with

cane seats and softly curved arms and legs.  Behind a paneled door at the end

of the table is a reclusive little closet filled with china and other such necessities

for a perfect evening. 

 

On the table there most often is a lovely Venetian glass decanter and other

delicate and transparent glass treasures, which reflect the light filtering in

through the two large windows, which dominate one wall of the salon, each

dressed in taffeta and tassels.  Hanging overhead, just as in every other room of

this wonderful space is a crystal chandelier reflecting light and speaking of

another time.

 

The other half of the room is filled with sumptuous armchairs and a sofa.  The

armchairs mirror the settee in design and tapestry and the sofa is rich burgundy

leather, deeply tufted and a bit worn from the happy hours guests have spent

there.  Between these pieces of furniture sits a very large mirrored coffee table

of mercury glass and gold gilt.  Four large lion paws support the table that sits

low on the floor. 

On the wall above is a painting reaching from crown molding to baseboard of

the over 18 ft tall ceiling and depicting a still life with an urn spilling forth an

abundance of flowers in softly subtle shades to compliment every color of the

room.  On either side of the painting are mounted animal heads, whimsical

trophies keeping watch over this wonderful room, made of coconut husks. 

One is a moose and the other an antelope both with proud horns and engaging

looks in their glass eyes.  Hand painted shadows of their antlers are on the wall

behind them letting you know that there is no small detail overlooked in this

special place. 

 

A tall brass floor lamp with candelabra mounted on its base under a tufted and

pleated shade just beside the paneled doors, looking so much like a debutant in

a Lanvin gown on her special evening, stands by the paneled doors where you

step back out into the oyer just in time to catch a glimpse of filtered light reaching

into the cour.

 

There are three bedrooms tucked away in this jewel of a space.  Two are painted

in the deepest of burgundy reds and trimmed in a carefully outlined detail taken

from a picture frame found hanging in the room belonging to the owner.  Her room

is the largest and she reposes each night in a sleigh bed of mahogany tucked in

the corner with an antique upright opera piano topped with Chinese vases and

vintage photographs along the opposite wall.   Another burgundy leather sofa,

the twin to the one in the salon, and a tall country linen cabinet filled with

fabulous sheets, towels, throws and all of the things essential to comfort fill the

rest of the room.  All of these carefully placed pieces rest under a whimsical

birdcage chandelier, unlike the elegant crystal and glass ones in the other rooms. 

High on the old armoire sleep the owners’ two Persian cats who must truly open

their eyes from time to time to gaze down at their enchanted abode and purr a

thankful prayer.

 

Just off this room is a smaller one painted in the same fashion and fitted with a

huge wall mirror and little built in closets.  A cozy armchair and surprising modern

floor rug rest under a bed made up in the most delicious flax linen.  An intricately

painted antique Chinese jewelry stand sits in the corner and just looking at it takes

you to exotic and unknown places.

 

The last room is a special favorite for the owner and I as well as we both share a

passion for celadon green and it is softly abundant here.  The walls are painted the

color of a pale Chinese jade bracelet and thin tall moldings create rich architectural

detail and house equally thin and delicate mirrors and tiny brass boudoir lamps.

 One wall is filled with a larger than life size sepia tone print of two ladies in the

early days of the 20^th century standing in a garden looking back at you, relatives

of Nathalie’s.  Another wall is filled with the wood trimmed doors of built in closets

and a thin little window just like in the foyer that also looks to the cour.  Sitting

next to that window is a deep and soft armchair and a table with Venetian perfume

bottles filled with scents that are mesmerizing, the names forgotten long ago.  It is

the perfect place to stop, sit and know that you will always remember being here,

in this extraordinary apartment that can only be found in Paris.