Located in the heart of Paris’ momentous Marais district, the Apartment Saint Paul dwells in a holistic balance of historic charm and contemporary accouterments. Dating back to the 18th century, the renovation of the apartment was spearheaded by designer Margaux Beja, who successfully amplifies the significant features of the vernacular without letting them dominate the newly designed space. The original wooden roof structure grabs one’s attention almost immediately with its raw, rustic appeal, and is deftly bled into the rest of the apartment by meticulous additions of solid walnut and other hardwoods. The walnut is used cleverly in the creation of a new mechanical wall, which hides the pragmatic aspects of the home (such as the bathroom and laundry) in plain sight. Her wonderful appointments of wood bask in the glowing sunlight of the space, which floods the apartment thanks to her inclusion of clear glass wall to quarantine the bedroom, as opposed to an opaque divider. They further pop thanks to the designer’s carefully planned color scheme of neutral whites, pinks and beiges, punctured occasionally by a splash of black. The kitchen is where these lavish elements find a true balance, as the whimsical modernity of the varied lighting fixtures perfectly blends with the warmness of the wood of the wall, roof joist and countertops, with light reflecting crisply off the chrome of standard kitchen components. All in all, this apartment shows a love for both the old and new that have come to define Paris as such a vibrant city, and can only be described as “Haute Architecture.”
