Today, we’ll tour the Paris residence, an elegant hôtel particulier that was built for a marquise in 1731. The Hôtel d’Orrouer, designed by the architect Pierre Boscry for Marguerite-Paule de Grivel d’Orrouer, marquise de Feuquières, sits on Rue de Grenelle and it is a masterpiece.
“Once inside the hôtel, it is clear that the same elegant aesthetic is at work. There is opulence and luxury in terms of materials – ormolu-mounted or gilded furniture, mirrors, candelabra, hardstone vessels, mirror-black vases and bronzes, plus rich embroideries and carpets – and a profusion of objects, but there is a rigour and symmetry in their arrangement that ensures an effect that is masculine and surprisingly unfussy. Nothing is extraneous. As his great mentor Cristóbal Balenciaga once said: the secret of elegance is elimination.” –Apollo Magazine, 2012
Givenchy began acquiring the pieces when he first had opportunity, saving up for his first beautiful object, a giltwood Louis XVI bergère. After that, he worked slowly, buying the highest quality objects he could afford: “Little by little, I pursued my dream of acquiring furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries, and contemporary art.”
The second is a beach house on the Mediterranean in the south of France, Le Clos Fiorentina, in Cap Ferrat, less formal in vibe with wicker and linen, but still canopy beds and beautiful gardens and Givenchy’s love of blue & white. Click through for a glimpse of both places …
Image sources: The Peak of Chic, Tweedland & Pinterest
