An embassy transformed into a mansion by Santillane Design

It is never easy to change the character of a place. Even less so when this place, steeped in history, has long enjoyed a specific status. This was the challenge faced by the Santillane Design agency for the transformation of a former embassy into a private hotel. An exceptional place boasting a garden and a small courtyard, the 19th century building is located on a private road in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. An oasis of tranquility yet poorly suited to housing, the embassy initially consisted only of offices. Sixteen months of work were necessary to redevelop it.

A lot of work was done upstream to determine the layout of the future rooms, taking into account the wishes of the owners. Spread over four levels – basement, ground floor and two floors – the residence saw the construction schedule significantly slowed down by an unpleasant surprise: the cleaning revealed the non-viability of the floor beams on the levels... as a result, all of the floor structures in R + 1 and R + 2 were rebuilt. Santillane de Chanaleilles and his teams took the opportunity to create a 17 m2 extension on the first floor terrace.

The very spacious ground floor now accommodates an entrance, a kitchen with a central island separated from the dining room by a glass roof, and a large living room bathed in light thanks to four majestic French windows opening onto the garden. The first floor is dedicated to the offices of the owner couple: the husband's has a small adjoining living room, while the wife's is directly connected to the terrace overlooking the garden. The level is completed by a kitchenette and a guest bedroom. Finally, the second floor, under the roof, is reserved for the occupants' bedroom, associated with a bathroom and a large dressing room. An opening provides access to the new terrace installed above the extension.

The noble materials have been chosen with care, with a predominance of wood, marble and quartzite in the different spaces. All of the furniture and lighting was also selected by the Santillane Design decoration teams, to perfect the smallest details of the layout.