In Burgundy, the Italianate renovation of a Renaissance castle
It all started with two bathrooms, added by the owners to give a bit of modern comfort to their chateau in Burgundy. On this momentum, why not also tackle the bedrooms? And then the staircase, other bedrooms… we might as well redo the reception rooms on the ground floor. In three years, Paul du Pré de Saint Maur has given a new face to these pieces which had fallen asleep over the centuries. This old 16th century mansione century had already experienced a first transformation in the 19thegaining in the process a tower to house a monumental staircase and a beautiful mosaic in the entrance. Two elements which attracted the attention of the young architect from the start, allowing him to lay the foundations of his restoration and to infuse a little touch of Italy, reminiscent of his years of study in Rome.
Or how to soften the somewhat frozen heaviness of the 19th centurye French thanks to the charm of the Renaissance: “After all, it still inspired all French architecture, underlines Paul du Pré de Saint Maur, including the 19the which is partly inspired by the classic. That said, I am absolutely not doing history. Inspiration amuses me but copying doesn’t interest me, because redoing the same interiors as in the palazzi doesn’t make any sense. No transcription. » Thus, we proceed by reminders, distilling touches of color here and there: the sienna, red and black tones of the mosaic cross the spaces to rest on the woodwork of the rooms next door, where we sometimes allow ourselves a few motives from elsewhere.
As if to disturb the imposed order, the moldings of the living room are enriched with small black macaroons while the doors cover their frescoed frames – signed Pierre du Pré de Saint Maur, brother of. Everywhere, the idea is to discreetly relax a too-classic setting, without distorting it, as the architect confirms: “This allows you to change the final character of the room without changing its architecture. I don’t want to compare myself to him, but I aspire to the same thing as Emilio Terry for example: to do things that are quite historical and amusing, but to maintain a sobriety, a contemporary radicalism. This or that detail would not have been done in the Renaissance, but at the same time it is consistent. We can’t really date it. »
There is no question of imposing major architectural gestures when the framework already has everything it needs. We just limit ourselves to designing a beautiful kitchen by refining the details of the hidden doors or by imagining a sofa with rigorous lines for the living room, between a floor lamp by Ignazio Gardella and a contemporary sculpture by Stefan Rinck. Balance yes, total look, no. And Paul du Pré de Saint Maur explains: “I didn’t want a statement, the goal being that the house seemed to have evolved over time and its owners. » A subtle balancing act that the architect knows how to handle, all the more valuable when it comes to working on ancient stones. We will not be surprised to learn that he is already working on another castle intended to become a place of artistic and cultural reception, while waiting to deliver a project in New York, carried out jointly with Marie-Anne Derville. From Burgundy to the East Coast, still a matter of balance.