On the fourth floor of a Haussmannian building in Paris's 4th arrondissement, BB Apartment occupies 200 square metres that Danielle Siggerud Architects renovated in 2024 for a Swedish-French family of five. The brief was neither a strict period restoration nor a stark minimalist reset. What emerged is a quieter proposition: a personal retreat that holds its classical architecture lightly and lets contemporary design sit alongside it with restraint.
Walking through the home, the first impression is of calm rather than display. The rooms feel settled, warm and unhurried, and the result reads as a Parisian home with a timeless feel rather than a showpiece.
Old bones, new air
The original herringbone floors and restored mouldings remain central to the apartment's character. They sit comfortably beside warm painted walls and honed Carrara marble, so that the historic detailing feels lived in rather than preserved under glass. Honed marble has a soft, matte finish, and here it contributes to the sense of ease, reading warmer and quieter than a polished surface would.
The layout was also rebalanced to open up the rooms and let in more daylight. Light is often what allows high-ceilinged Haussmann apartments to feel open again, and in BB Apartment that adjustment helps the classical proportions breathe.
Warm wood throughout
Bespoke mahogany runs through the home and ties its different registers together. It appears in the kitchen and dining cabinetry, which wrap around a Le Cornué stove, and in a walk-in wardrobe that also divides the main bedroom. A set of freestanding mahogany pieces extends the same material language into the rest of the rooms.
Because the wood recurs in built-in and loose forms alike, it gives the apartment a continuity that feels considered rather than decorative, and its warmth complements the painted walls and the marble.
A quiet register
BB Apartment shows how a historic Parisian interior can be made personal without being overworked. The original floors, mouldings and proportions are respected, while the restrained contemporary touches and the mahogany joinery give the home a calm, warm character that suits a family of five.
The photography is by Piet Albert Goethals, whose images capture the apartment's soft, understated mood.
