Julie is a serial traveller, she is American and doesn't really know how the French real estate market works. Thibaut is a musician who mostly leaves it up to her.
She likes the cozy feeling of a nest on a tree top, enough space to hang Thibaut's many guitars and other funky intruments, a lively central neighborhood on the Right bank, and the charm of an old Parisian building. Thank god she doesn't mind going up the stairs by foot even with her two little girls!
Bingo, the first apartment was THE one! Located in the Marais off the rue de Bretagne, Audrey found a nice volume, under the roof, in a "hotel particulier" from the 17th century, full of sunlight, with a great potential to create a duplex.
The "quartier des enfants rouges", Paris 3.
17th century "hôtel particulier".
Julie could visualize and imagine, with the help of Nina, the tranformation of the space, which was like an upside down boat hull, into an open living area and three little cabines on the top floor. The volume was optimized by creating an additional floor. The big plus with this project is that the actual price paid for the apartment was much less than the space they ended up living in. They got 78 square meters for the price of 50!
To top it all off, since they have settled in, Audrey put them in contact with a renowned high-end rental agency so that they can put their apartment out for rent while they are on vacation, in order to optimize the return on investment.
Sketch & moodboard