Bought sight-unseen, this Parisian mansion is an art deco gem
‘We saw their new home before they did!’ exclaims Noa Peer from architecture studio OUI. With its lush garden and art-deco features, the mansion in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly was an attractive prospect for a New York-based family eager to make a fresh start after the travel constraints imposed by the pandemic.
They boldly bought it without ever having visited, engaging Noa and co-founder Flore Raimbault (pictured above) to have it ready for them in just two months. True to their studio’s positive name (an acronym for Office for Urban Innovation), the duo said ‘oui’ to the challenge.
A beautifully intact example of 1930s Parisian architecture, the three-storey home features original wooden panelling, marble columns, frescoes and a grand central staircase illuminated by a skylight. It’s a combination that really captured the new owners’ imaginations.
‘The house was beautiful,’ Noa says, ‘in the way that a museum is beautiful. Our job was to help the family put their stamp on it, adapting it for their children in particular.’
‘A lot of their existing art and furniture was made up of what I’d call “West Coast” colours,’ she adds. To allow these pieces to shine, OUI devised a decorative scheme that would artfully bridge the gap between a traditional Parisian aesthetic and the elements of modern American style.
She and Flore were still on-site finishing two hours before the home’s owners arrived to open the door onto their new lives.‘We’re not the kind of architects who impose a manifesto on our clients,’ says Noa, who, despite the tight schedule, took time to craft a considered home. ‘We are telling their stories, not ours. It’s an intense personal relationship. Afterwards, you shake their hands, say goodbye and hope that they live well.’ archi-oui.com
