History Lesson
Jaime Beriestain Studio breathes new life into the Geneva home of an art-loving couple
“We wanted to get back the original soul of the house that had been lost in the last refurbishment thirty years ago”
Located in the old town area of Geneva, Parc des Bastions is a charming park in the heart of the Swiss city and banking hub. There are shady promenades, sculptural monuments, galleries and museums, and an overall relaxed ambience. It is not surprising then that a financier and his art advisor wife fell in love with a historic property in the area’s Cité district.
The couple are passionate about art, and wanted their home to ref lect that. They f lew to Barcelona to meet Chilean-born interior designer Jaime Beriestain, who is known for elegant works worldwide. His firm has designed luxurious yet understated residences, as well as restaurants and hotels for clients such as Hilton and Waldorf Astoria. Impressed with his portfolio, the couple enlisted Beriestain’s studio to design and renovate their abode, which the firm completed in fourteen months.
HISTORIC ROOTS
The 3,659sqft apartment is located in an 18th-century building, which formerly housed Hôtel Sellon. It has high ceilings, domed windows and decorative mouldings, and looks out to meticulous landscaping. Beriestain’s experience in renovating historic hotels was fully brought to bear in this project.
“We wanted to get back the original soul of the house that had been lost in the last refurbishment thirty years ago,” says the designer. Neutral white, grey and cream tones provide a fitting backdrop for splashes of colour from artworks and furnishings. This palette also pays homage to Geneva’s cloudy skies.
Beriestain and his team restored the damaged f loors and decorative mouldings in the living room, master bedroom and dressing room. They then added new oak f looring and streamlined elements to spaces without historic features, instead of replicating the existing moulding designs. Next, the team used the couple’s contemporary art collection as a starting point to layer the soulful shell.
CHROMATIC ACCENTS
The designer worked closely with the homeowners to discover the best locations to exhibit the artworks. British-based artist Anish Kapoor’s Untitled (Deep
Blue) stainless-steel dish, hung on one of the living room’s alabaster walls, is a centrepiece. It sparked the idea of using colour to identify each room. Here, it matches the dual coffee tables by Yves Klein, purchased at Senda Gallery in Barcelona.
Two Maxalto Crono sofas and ashen Jacques armchairs by Minotti encircle these tables. A Sum of One and Two interlocking hanging lamp by Niamh Barry draws attention upwards. Its curved forms mirror the living room’s rounded windows.
“It was important that these views and natural light were noticeable as one enters the room,” says Beriestain, on a sofa’s positioning overlooking the garden. Above the fireplace, a mirror ref lects Kapoor’s cobalt piece, perpetuating the room’s play on symmetry.