"It's fitting that a jeweler should live in a gem, and the Paris home of Marie-Hélène de Taillac, a penthouse apartment with views over the Parisian rooftops toward Saint-Sulpice, is a lovely one: simple, clean and understated, and in a constant dance with light. If you've ever dreamed of an Amélie-style garret sprinkled with a generous pinch of sophistication — and who hasn't? — here it is, perched on the top floor of a building near de Taillac's shop in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, complete with a terrace and climbing magnolias. "I love watching the clouds," she says. "That is why I love this flat. In the summer we are out on the terrace, and in the winter we are by the fire.
The apartment, where she lives with her young son, Edmond, is perfectly compact, rather like being on a boat; a steep, narrow rail-less staircase leads to a shower room made of slatted wood, just like that on a Mediterranean yacht, on the way to de Taillac's bedroom. A spare refuge from all the color and sparkle of her dazzling shop, her bedroom is pared down, as if to allow more space for her creative flights. Her bed is covered with a large Kashmir Loom blanket, and the walls are painted white, one side of the room is lined with windows and the other with cupboards filled with her clothes, in a rainbow of candy shades."
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A 1970s table and chairs from the Marché aux Puces
custom de Gournay silver leaf wallpaper (with details added by a friend)
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| Mushroom chair by Pierre Paulin |
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| Pierre Paulin sofa. |
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| A jeweled mobile is perched above the living room mantel. |
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A regiment of silver Miffy moneyboxes, a Dutch children’s character,
found at a flea market, lines the top of de Taillac’s bookshelves. |
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A chair by Tom Dixon sits at the foot of de Taillac’s bed,
covered with a Kashmir Loom blanket;
the picturesque view out the window is of Saint- Sulpice and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. |
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| The facade of de Taillac’s Paris boutique. Deidi Van Shaewen |
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An Yves Klein table filled with 46,000 carats of aquamarines
anchors the second floor showroom of her New York shop.
Courtesy of Marie-Helene de Taillac
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| Boxes of hand-tooled leather contain a variety of de Taillac’s creations. |
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| A blue convex mirror reflects the sitting room in de Taillac’s apartment. |
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| Marie-Helene de Taillac |
