Parisian Designer Pied à Terre

An Architect’s Calm, Parisian Pied-à-Terre Perched High Above the Marais

The personal Parisian flat of architect and designer Yann Le Coadic of Lecoadic Scotto, this poetic apartment is a study in subtlety. A haven of calm styling, there’s a light, almost dreamy quality to this distinctively personal space where slate-grey tiled floors are crossed by rays of natural light from the many windows and softened by matte plaster walls and white furnishings. The architect-owner has played with the limitations of the classic Parisian apartment space, creating a cozy eat-in kitchen nook of wood, and a privacy partition for the king-sized bedroom.

The kitchen is fully equipped with a dishwasher and laundry units, and there’s a dedicated workspace (if you must). The library-like living room has a wood-burning fireplace and is equipped with a double-sized daybed in addition to its couch and armchair seating. A spare, simple sophistication pervades throughout the space, enlivened by the interplay of light and shadows from the exceptional number of windows.

Spacious and bright, the fourth-floor perch’s windows line both sides of the building, creating a calm, intimate aerie high above the vibrant, action-packed Marais.

Note: The apartment is a fourth-floor walkup without elevator.

Around

Located at the heart of the Marais only steps from the Seine, this fourth-floor apartment offers a calm oasis high above a busy street alive with fashion boutiques, hip cafes, traditional architecture, and the buzzing trendsetters who’ve made this neighborhood one of Paris’ favorite destinations for locals and tourists alike. Restaurants, organic markets (Eataly), and cultural sites from the Pompidou Center to the Musée Carnavalet are walking distance from the apartment, and nearly all of the city’s Metro lines service the area.

The Seine’s beautifully cobbled banks are just a quick stroll from the apartment’s front door, offering all of the beauty of the aristocratic Ile de la Cité and quieter, more residential l’Ile St. Louis, and landmarks from Notre Dame to the city’s famed booksellers, the fragrant Marche aux Fleurs to the hushed and harmonious Sainte-Chapelle royal chapel.

One of Paris’ most celebrated neighborhoods for its medieval, barely wider than arms’ length avenues and alleys, Le Marais was Paris’s original settlement, a former marshland that’s home to the city’s oldest marketplace (le Marché des Enfants Rouges) and original town square (Place de Vosges). Populated by aristocrats, who filled the swamp in the 16th and 17th centuries, the neighborhood is a charming jumble of pre-Revolutionary mansions, now holding mostly museums and ministries, hidden behind huge, gated entries created for the passage of horse-drawn carriages. The arrondissement is also an epicenter of Paris’ Jewish and gay communities, and arguably the best place to go for independent boutique shopping, artisanal bakeries, trendsetting cocktail bars and a wildly creative culinary scene, plus dozens of must-see museums and galleries in the elegant manors.

Location

Nearest airports: Paris Orly (15 miles); Paris CDG (25 miles)

Best time to visit

Year-round, but springtime in Paris is a cliché for good reason.