A GRAND SCALE
This BEAUX-ARTS mansion in the 16th arrondissement proved the perfect opportunity for an interior architect to create a bold sense of contemporary elegance without losing the LUSTRE OF THE PAST.
This Beaux-Arts mansion in the 16th arrondissement proved the opportunity for an interior architect to create a bold sense of contemporary elegance without losing the lustre of the past
“The floors weren’t great quality, and the plumbing was all shot, but it was still an amazing canvas to work with” bryan o’sullivan
Along-term client approached Irish-born, London-based interior architect Bryan O’Sullivan asking him to transform a grand Beaux-Arts mansion in the chic 16th arrondissement of Paris into a comfortable, good-looking family home. The architect’s biggest challenge? To avoid turning the house into a pastiche of its glamorous architectural past.
Previously owned by LVMH fashion mogul Bernard Arnault, the home was bought by the current owners about eight years ago. By the time O’Sullivan came onboard three years later — after the owners had tried unsuccessfully to kickstart the renovation a number of times — the traditional rooms were still in place, but many of the original details had been stripped out. “The floors weren’t great quality, and the plumbing was all shot, but it was still an amazing canvas to work with,” says O’Sullivan.
The interior expert’s first rule was to ensure that any architectural interventions stayed true to the original building. “We didn’t want to mess with such a masterpiece of a house,” he says of echoing the early 20th-century age of the home in the redesign. “We wanted it to feel authentic.” So O’Sullivan and his team conducted extensive research into period details at Paris’s nearby Musée Nissim de Camondo, a once-lavish mansion that was built around the same time as this house. ››
“We didn’t want to mess with such a masterpiece of a house. We wanted it to feel authentic”
bryan o’sullivan
Giacometti-inspired gesso-finished chandeliers in the dining room and hallways provide a modern contrast to the ornate black-and-gilded wrought-iron balustrades
‹‹ Here, he found inspiration for the new decorative stucco, stair runners, stone floors and Versailles parquetry flooring reinstated on the ground and first floors, as well as the thinner, longer boards of the chevron parquet on the top floor. O’Sullivan also drew on the talents of dozens of independent craftsmen including Irish stonemasons, Belgian timber specialists and British furniture makers, as well as French gilders, ironmongers, painters and polishers.
New structural additions included arched-fanlight doors to divide the dining room and grand salon from the main entrance hall. “They provide a really nice vista all the way through the ground floor and out to the garden,” says the designer. More natural light floods through an oblong skylight and top-floor light well down into the gallery on the first floor. “Before, it was a really underwhelming space. Now, it really feels kind of wow.”
That same wow factor also comes from the impressive scale of the rooms, originally designed by Grand Palais architect Henri Deglane. “They are extraordinarily generous, even for Paris,” says O’Sullivan.
With his own impressive architectural pedigree, O’Sullivan was the perfect man for this job. Having worked with major architects including Annabelle Selldorf in New York and Luis Laplace in Paris, and interior designers David Collins and Martin Brudnizki in London, O’Sullivan founded his eponymous practice in 2013. Today, he has projects traversing high-end residential projects from New York to Ibiza, superyachts and destinations such as Ballynahinch Castle Hotel in Galway, Ireland, and The Tamburlaine Hotel in Cambridge, UK.
This house’s eclectic aesthetic mixes traditional gilded edging and Louis XV-style sconces with vibrantly patterned marble fireplaces, Fortuny pendant lamps and curvaceous Pierre Paulin sofas. Italian floor lamps and shell-shaped cocktail chairs from the 1950s team with contemporary woven leather, wool and raffia rugs by Toyine Sellers and 19th-century antiques sourced from London’s decorative-arts fairs and the Marché aux Puces in Paris.
Giacometti-inspired gesso-finished chandeliers in the dining room and hallways provide a modern contrast to the ornate black-and-gilded wrought-iron balustrades. Bedrooms showcase special bespoke pieces, such as fluted headboards and a walnut and bouclé sleigh bed inspired by the work of mid-century architect Jules Leleu that cleverly conceals a pop-up TV. “I try to hide televisions as much as I can — they are my absolute pet hate,” says O’Sullivan.
In the bathroom, there’s a lively juxtaposition between the floor, which is predominantly green with white stripes, and the wall, which is predominantly white with green stripes. “This was the trickiest room to get right because you see it from the bedroom. Everything had to be spot-on,” says the interior designer.
The result is a house that feels grand but not intimidating. “Nothing feels too far away or disconnected,” says O’Sullivan. “What we tried to do was balance the house’s past with the right contemporary mix of colour, texture and playfulness so the owners felt instantly at home.” bos-studio.com @bosstudio
“What we tried to do was balance the house’s past with the right contemporary mix of colour, texture and playfulness so the owners felt instantly at home” bryan o’sullivan