Best of est | Historic Parisian Apartments

Steeped in history, experience the grandeur and charm of five Parisian apartments.

Certain locations frequently grace estliving.com and the pages of est magazine, one of them being Paris. It’s no mystery that we, like countless others, deeply admire the city and delight in celebrating its rich culture, design scene and storied history. Among the several Parisian projects we’ve featured is a coveted collection of historic apartments. Through thoughtful interventions and reinventions, each design ensures the city’s past remains alive and cherished.

Avenue Paris Apartment by Hélène Van Marcke | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

Avenue Marceau Apartment

Hélène Van Marcke

Avenue Marceau Apartment has emerged from a contemporary design intervention by Hélène Van Marcke, rearranged for discerning modern living with an inherent respect for its heritage. “The owner’s bought the sixth-floor apartment and all the service rooms and spaces of the floor above,” Hélène Van Marcke explains. “The sixth floor was beautifully proportioned but needed some love, while the seventh floor needed to be fully demolished and rebuilt, including the roof structure!”

The brief called for effortless continuation and aesthetic harmony between both floors – connecting the etage noble and the etage de service – and a gentle dialogue with the landmarks visible in the surrounding views over Paris. Looking out to the Eiffel Tower from the lounge, the Sacre Coeur from the main bedroom and the Arc de Triomphe from the terrace, the home also leverages art and design to establish warmth and modern elegance.

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Avenue Paris Apartment by Hélène Van Marcke | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

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Avenue Paris Apartment by Hélène Van Marcke | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

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Avenue Paris Apartment by Hélène Van Marcke | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

Parc Monceau

Nathalie Deboel

A young Parisian family approached Belgian interior designer Nathalie Deboel to lead an outdated park-side apartment into the next phase of its life. The aim was to revisit its grandeur while injecting warmth and comfort, grounding it firmly in the present. The result is a balanced family home in the heart of the city, with consideration for both functionality and aesthetics.

“Parc Monceau is a home of unions – intimacy and togetherness, and tradition and modernity,” Nathalie says. The designer has combined traditional elements such as mouldings, panelling and ironwork with contemporary touches – marble countertops, sculptural furniture and artworks – to situate the apartment in the past and present. Timeless materials such as timber, linen and steel tie the knot between the two worlds.

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Parc Monceau by Nathalie Deboel | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

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Parc Monceau by Nathalie Deboel | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

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Parc Monceau by Nathalie Deboel | Photography by Thomas De Bruyne

Paris Apartment

Nicolas Schuybroek Architects

Famed creative Barbara Boccara of covetable fashion label Ba&sh enlisted the expertise of Belgian-based architect Nicolas Schuybroek to transform a once-dated and starkly decorated apartment for her and her partner, enticed by Nicolas’s authentic and understated approach.

Overlooking the leafy avenue below with views towards the Arc de Triomphe, the light-filled apartment hid most of its original architectural details and needed a new, modern chapter. “While we wanted to make the original charm of the apartment visible again, we also had to find a way to create easy circulations and introduce tactile materials, which you don’t usually experience in a typical Parisian apartment,” Nicolas reflects. With its classical bones still intact, he looked to restructure and rebalance the volumes of each room and introduce a quiet sense of luxury.

Paris Apartment by Nicolas Schuybroek Architects | Photography by Claessens & Deschamps

Duperré Apartment

Heju

This chic Parisian apartment designed by architecture studio Heju is a colourful capsule of the cultured young couple that lives there. The project comprised a complete renovation of an old 75-square-metre Parisian apartment. “We wanted to combine materials and know-how to produce both a daring and chic result,” Hélène says. “Daring” and “chic” are expressive of their highbrow clients, a pair of young fashion designers living in one of the world’s most eminent fashion capitals.

White forms the basis of Duperré Apartment, while understated colours make a surprisingly bold impact. In the kitchen, white is contrasted with a soft shade of terracotta; in the living room, beige comes into play; and in the bedroom, peach and pink are the heroes. Gold is used to heighten these spaces, while walnut joinery reveals the studio’s penchant for bespoke detailing.

Duperré Apartment by Heju | Photography courtesy of Heju

Apartment Turenne

Humbert & Poyet

Within the third arrondissement, in the northern section of Paris’s Marais, Humbert & Poyet designers Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet have reworked a two-storey apartment of sublime eloquence. The Art Deco stylings of a bygone era primarily inspire the design. Defined by its popularity in the 1920s and 30s and characterised by sleek geometry and form materialised by human ingenuity, it proved a deep well for the designers to draw from.

Apartment Turenne features ornate frames, hardware by I1 Fanale, lighting and suspension by the firm’s in-house Asterios, and decorative furnishings, all of which use noble materials such as marble, terrazzo, wood and brass. “In all of our designs, we think it is important to carefully select the best artisans and craftsmen to keep traditional craftsmanship alive,” Emil says.