{"id":20993,"date":"2023-05-10T11:19:47","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T09:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=17297"},"modified":"2023-05-10T11:36:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T09:36:41","slug":"creating-cohesion-camille-hermands-characterful-parisian-home","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/creating-cohesion-camille-hermands-characterful-parisian-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating cohesion: Camille Hermand\u2019s characterful Parisian home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architect Camille Hermand has opened up her Paris home to complement the building\u2019s history as well as her own sense of style. Now it\u2019s an inviting flow of rooms, where each is more characterful than the last. Stylist: V\u00e9ronique Villaret Photographs: Herv\u00e9 Coluza <\/p>

By Jo Leevers\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 10 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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A wall of cream and black tiles<\/a> in Camille Hermand\u2019s library acts as a reminder of her home\u2019s previous life. The building lies on a narrow side street in the Marais district of Paris and, built in 1870, it was originally the local dairy. Five years ago, Camille bought the ground floor shop space to use as the office for her architecture practice.<\/p>\n

Then, a year later, the flat upstairs came up for sale, so she moved in and lived above her office for a while. \u2018I valued the history of the house and that of the Marais neighbourhood, and have done since I first moved here as a student,\u2019 she says. \u2018I loved the tiles and wanted to preserve them as part of the building\u2019s story.\u2019<\/p>\n

These days, Camille rents an office in a different location and has now joined the two floors in the building to make a maisonette for herself and her children, Madeleine (11), Adela\u00efde (10) and Honor\u00e9 (six). \u2018It\u2019s brilliant now \u2013 it feels like a little house,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

As an architect, Camille was well placed to convert the building in a way that retained its integral character as well as working for modern family life. She removed some of the walls, stripping them back to the old beams, and added some internal windows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her overall aim was for each room to have an identity but also feel linked. The front door now opens into a square hallway, divided from the main living space by a tangle of chunky timber beams. Modern, steel-framed glazing leads you to a book-lined space, where a further glass door opens into the living area.<\/p>\n

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The first floor is reached via a reclaimed 19th-century metal spiral staircase. Standing at the top of these stairs, you can see into all three bedrooms at once, thanks to the internal windows Camille has set into the walls. They allow a good flow of natural light, but Camille\u2019s bigger aim was for the rooms to feel like segments of the same jigsaw, rather than sealed off spaces. \u2018I didn\u2019t want to walk in and be greeted by a series of closed doors and blank walls,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

Her motivation was personal as well as aesthetic. Camille is divorced, so her children divide their time between here and their father\u2019s house, alternating weeks. \u2018It\u2019s important that when they return, this place immediately feels welcoming, open and like \u2018home\u2019,\u2019 Camille explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018But, equally, the house has to feel good for me when they are away and everything suddenly goes quiet.\u2019 The see-through spaces help. \u2018Even when my children aren\u2019t here, I have a sense of their presence and personalities. If it was a house of ordinary walls and doors, I believe it would feel different. I would feel the solitude.\u2019<\/p>\n

Linen blinds can be drawn over the internal windows for privacy, something that Camille anticipates will become more relevant once her children reach their teens. But it\u2019s certainly not the case just yet. Her daughters share an L-shaped room with beds at the opposite ends, but Camille often comes in to find they\u2019ve dragged mattresses into the centre of the room to sleep side by side.<\/p>\n

Most of the furniture in this home has been bought over the years at the March\u00e9 aux Puces de Saint-Ouen flea market in Paris. \u2018With my architecture clients, I have to work to a tight schedule, but in my own home I\u2019ve enjoyed taking time to accumulate pieces I love,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

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Camille cites the designs of architects Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand as two enduring influences, and she finds herself drawn to a wide range of 20th-century furniture<\/a>. For example, a 1960s rosewood coffee table that she bought in Belgium takes pride of place in her living room, alongside a handsome 1970s swivel chair by Norwegian designer Sigurd Ressell.<\/p>\n

The walls of the library and entrance hall have been decorated with colour and pattern, but all other walls are painted in Strong White by Farrow & Ball<\/a>. \u2018It has grey tones, so splashes of yellow and green look good against it.\nI like a dash of colour, but not too much,\u2019 she admits.<\/p>\n

Camille first moved to the Marais 20 years ago. \u2018It has a much more bobo [or bourgeois-boh\u00e8me] feel these days,\u2019 she smiles. \u2018But there are still traditional bakeries and cafes alongside the new galleries and boutiques and, when I look up, I always see interesting architecture.\u2019<\/p>\n

The bare timber beams that Camille integrated into her design are typical of the tall 19th-century townhouses in her area. \u2018The buildings here are quite unlike the grander Haussmann-style houses on the wide boulevards,\u2019 says Camille.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I love this area. We don\u2019t have a private garden so walk to the public gardens five minutes away, or to the traffic-free bank of the Seine. The streets in the Marais are narrow and there\u2019s very little parking, so most people cycle or walk everywhere. It\u2019s a really nice place to bring up a family.\u2019<\/p>\n

\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The living room, once part of a shop, has windows onto the street. The rug is a traditional Tuareg design made from straw and leather; the yellow chair is a prototype made by Camille. Camille uses picture ledges so that she can swap around displays easily.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
One wall of the library is papered in Boh\u00e8me by Bien Fait, adding impact alongside shelving.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
Camille Hermand in her library.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
Camille painted the library shelves in Hague Blue by Farrow & Ball because \u2018the book spines look more interesting against a dark colour.\u2019 The table is an old Habitat design, with vintage chairs from Selency.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The library, between the entrance and the living room, which is to the right. Glazed rather than solid doors help banish the feeling of solitude when Camille\u2019s children are away. The cream tiles on the wall date from when this building was a dairy in the 19th century.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The entrance hall, painted in the earthy Bancha green by Farrow & Ball, functions as a room in its own right. Camille had the 19th-century spiral staircase fitted.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
A collection of original beams acts as a divider between the entrance hall and the kitchen-diner, while retaining the sense of openness that Camille loves.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The kitchen-diner, with units from Ikea and a lithograph for a 1973 Picasso exhibition. A picture ledge painted turquoise helps to draw the eye to a display of art and objects.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The living room cabinet and bamboo-framed mirror were from the March\u00e9 aux Puces. The glass partition and door frames are powder-coated in a dark blue to match the library shelving paint.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The main living space, with exposed beams above and vintage furniture. The 1970s swivel chair is by Sigurd Ressell. The small baule chairs are traditional to the Ivory Coast.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
In Camille\u2019s bedroom, timber accessories, ochre yellow bedding from Caravane and wooden floorboards keep things feeling natural. Camille uses a picture ledge for her display of contemporary photography, the black and white images provide a bold contrast to the rest of the room.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The shelf is from Petite Friture and the wall lights are from &Tradition.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The chest of drawers was from a flea market.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
Camille\u2019s daughters share an L-shaped room, where nostalgic finds mix with a vintage Potence wall light designed by Jean Prouv\u00e9 in 1950.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
A corner of Honor\u00e9\u2019s bedroom is framed in glass, so it can be seen from the top of the stairs. Blinds can be drawn down for privacy or to make the room dark for sleeping.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Parisian\"<\/picture><\/div>
The upstairs monochrome bathroom is slimline, finished in metro tiles with a vintage-feel wall mirror.<\/span> <\/figcaption> Herv\u00e9 Goluza<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

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