The 80 sq m top floor flat is located in Montmartre with plunging views on one side above the tree line and rare views onto the Sacre Coeur and its vineyard.
Despite being one minute from all little shops, markets and touristic place des Tertres, it is incredibly quiet. The building is a typical Parisian Haussman style. However, it still has most of the authentic features and plenty of light. It has a long west facing balcony, showcasing the most wonderful sunsets.
The flat was purchased two years ago from an older couple who had lived there for thirty years. Although the volume and views were amazing, the doc luckily left a bit of room for improvement. An architect was used to manage the project, Fritz associates.
Changing the layout of the bedrooms, and bathroom was very challenging; being small creativity had to be used to go round all the technical difficulties and obligations. Something stylish needed to be created, clutter free and functional for enjoying for short stays. Again the kitchen being tiny, it was hard to move things round, the main priority was to create more room to lay out plates and dishes. The main fun came in designing the floor.
Ochre is a tightly-knit design company founded in 1996 by two British women Joanna Bibby and Harriet Maxwell Macdonald, who met at art school. With a shared aesthetic for the beauty of the understated they were inspired to put their ideas into practice for their debut at 100% Design in London. The first creations were exquisitely crafted gessoed lamp bases, delicately coloured, water gilded and perfectly balanced with simple shades.
Solenne de la Fouchardière became the third partner of Ochre in October 2000, and the team continued to expand their horizons. Today Ochre is an international brand that continues to grow organically, whilst staying true to its considered and crafted design roots.
The influential collection consists of furniture, lighting and accessories for the interior, the emphasis being on the use of very high quality materials, flawless British craftsmanship and technical virtuosity. Designs are all underpinned by the mastery of unusual materials and individual crafts.
‘This is a challenge we love. The starting point is understanding the possibilities of a material by spending time with specialist craftsmen in their workshops. We then go back to the drawing board with this knowledge to create new designs. It’s a very exciting part of the process and we love to break rules with traditional materials and explore techniques that have never been done before.’
Ochre is admired for not only creating perfect forms, but also the use of colours: those of heather, slate, water, and sky. This quiet beauty has become a signature for Ochre.
‘We embrace the way that nature harmonizes colour from the first greens of spring foliage to the burnished tones of autumnal bracken, but also how nature can surprise with sudden contrasts and unexpected textures.’
Ochre opened a showroom in New York reflecting the ever-increasing interest in North America. The following year saw the launch of Ochre’s first ever retail shop located in SoHo at 462 Broome Street. Here Ochre’s coveted classics sit alongside products by other key designers.
In October 2006, Ochre relocated to a renovated workshop in Clerkenwell to house its expanding yet edited collection of an even more complete Ochre interior – lighting, tables, occasional furniture, mirrors, wall panels, screens, seating, accessories, and a range of upholstered pieces. Five years later Ochre has moved to a spacious showroom in this creative hub of London, an area with the most condensed number of architects and interior designers in the whole of Europe.
Ochre opened the doors of its eagerly awaited new London Showroom on Britton Street, EC1 in December 2011. It is a space devoted to the talent of its original threesome and a destination for those in search of discreet glamour that is Ochre. January 2014 saw the opening of Ochre’s incredibly beautiful to-the-trade showroom in the Decoration and Design Building DDB, NYC.
