New Paris Style: A Mother and Daughter Afloat - Remodelista
Photographs © Richard Powers, courtesy of Thames & Hudson. Presenting our third great houseboat discovery of late: architect Valérie Mazerat’s stripped-down, industrial-chic barge in Paris that she shares with her young daughter, Margot. The boat’s main cabin was added by a previous owner who grafted a 1920s train carriage onto what had been a working Dutch barge built in the early 1900s. The boat (the second vessel with a canopy on the deck) is moored at Bassin de l’Arsenal, a marina on a canal with views of the Place de la Bastille. The living room/dining room–almost entirely rebuilt by Mazerat–retains its train car feel. (Learn about the history of the Butterfly Chair in our recent Object Lesson.) A Christmas decoration from Merci tops no-nonsense steel shelving. Mazerat inserted a compact galley at the front of the barge. Mazerat unified the interior of the boat by painting it a rich charcoal gray. On warm nights, mother and daughter sleep on the deck on folding daybeds under a canopy. Yes, we all want this room. The ships’ head is decorated with vintage travel mirrors and souvenirs from Morocco. A portrait by photographer Serge Anton hangs above a 1950s Danish desk with an Arne Jacobsen chair. New Paris Style by Danielle Miller, photographed by Richard Powers, is available from Thames & Hudson for $40. And if you like the look of The Ultimate Houseboat in NYC, go to our Steal This Look: The Summer Clubhouse. Photograph courtesy of Thames & Hudson.