Modern Boho

IT IS EARLY MORNING, ON THE CUSP OF A GLORIOUS SPRING DAY WITH ITS PROMISE OF INDISCRIMINATE TURQUOISE SKIES,

marie’s 18th-century french farmhouse is a rural idyll, but has a look that’s cool and contemporary

YOU KNOW TO EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED IN MARIE CHRISTOPHE’S FRENCH FARMHOUSE, WHERE HER WHIMSICAL WIRE SCULPTURES SIT HAPPILY WITH DESIGN CLASSICS, VINTAGE WALLPAPERS AND FLEA-MARKET FINDS

and sculptor Marie Christophe is already wandering in her garden. It’s artichoke season and her vegetable plot is ripe for harvesting. She plans to pick her crops, carry them to her kitchen where she’ll turn them into a delicious risotto for her family, and then, together, they will gather for lunch on the outside terrace (with its jaw-dropping view of the hills) to relish the fruits of their land. And to think there was a time when Marie was against living here.

‘I know, it seems crazy now,’ she laughs. ‘My husband found the house and fell in love with it immediately. I thought it was too remote and too big. It took two years for me to be persuaded to move here from Paris. And, to be honest, at first, I did it for him. But now, I have lived here for four years and I am totally enamoured with it.’

It seems impossible to imagine anyone not being enchanted by this carte postale française home with its aged stone walls and milky blue shutters on the outside, and whimsical artworks and diverse mingling of mid-century furniture on the inside. There is evidence of Marie’s fine finger-work everywhere; her beautiful iron-wire sculptures of insects, fish and birds sit alongside delicate lamp bases, majestic chandeliers and intricate wall sconces. Her unique sculptures have earned her a global reputation and clients include Hermès, Dior, Cartier and Roger Vivier. There is an element of playfulness in her creations, which is mirrored by other additions to the interiors. Turn a corner and there’s a stuffed goose, walk across the original terracotta floor and tread on a rug the colour of sapphires, sit in the boudoir and share the room with a cockerel.

But when Marie first saw the house, no one had lived in it for 10 years and it was in dire need of attention. ‘On the plus side, lots of it was still intact,’ she recalls. ‘There were even some pictures and tapestries left hanging. In my boudoir, the traditional toile de Jouy wallpaper is still there now. It was so lovely, I just couldn’t bear to remove it. Perhaps the best thing about the house is the natural light. There are 36 windows in all! But that wasn’t so appealing when it came to renovating them.’

For the most part, Marie wanted to keep her home as original as possible. So the bones of its magnificent architecture have given her a starting point to embellish each room. The blend of her (and her husband’s) choices is so unusual – yet faultless – that the end result feels almost like one huge work of art. It takes a keen design eye and a sense of derring-do to position a towering sculpture of tangerine-orange Hermès boxes in a room painted the colour of jade. ‘The decorating and choosing the accessories are my favourite parts,’ says Marie. ‘Emmanuel and I will mostly decide together, and we tend to have the same taste. But I do hand over the lighting decisions to him, and he lets me get on with the choice of fabrics. You can see we have pushed things with our paint shades. In Paris, we had white walls throughout. Here, because of the natural light, we can experiment more with colour. Pink in the living room works perfectly with the view of the garden, our blue bedroom is lovely to wake up in and the green corridor is… well, very cheerful.’

Inspired by their travels to India and Morocco, beautiful bedlinen, the colour of fireworks, and various iridescent rugs highlight the rooms. And then there’s the stunning collection of vintage Fifties furniture, which sits in authority throughout. Iconic pieces are the attention-grabbers, each one contributing perfectly to the overall impression of a carefully curated home.

‘Every room has its own personality,’ says Marie. ‘Some are more elegant, others are more bold. My favourite is probably my boudoir. It is personal to me and I love all the elements in it. The vision for it came from the work of photographer Tim Walker, who I adore. His style is fantastical and daring. Like a wild fairytale.’

Later, as the morning sun moves higher in the sky, Marie Christophe returns once again to her garden. This time, to check if the chickens have laid any eggs. If she can collect enough there may be something spongey and chocolatey for dessert. What joy! It has to be said that Marie is one convert who would now agree that living in the countryside is definitely all it’s cracked up to be.

See Marie Christophe’s work @mariechristophe.com