This house has its own name and a lot of pedigree. Is Villa La Rafalewitness to the splendid past of Biarritz – in France – a typical construction from the end of the XIX century. When Napoleon III and Eugenia de Montijo built Villa Eugenie – today the Hotel du Palais – they attracted the gentry and aristocracy like a magnet; Large houses began to be built and this is one of them.
How to recognize it? A stone construction, with views of the sea and the Palais itself, divided into four floors, which originally functioned as a whole. Today each floor is independent. Marta de la Rica intervened in the third, in a type of project that cannot fit better into your DNA.
A wider perspective shows the French iron bed – now a sofa – from the first half of the 19th century. XX, from The European; In the center, custom designed tables with a Creatina finish and on the ceiling an original chandelier from the owners that they wanted to integrate into the apartment. The carpet is a mat type designed specifically for this space.
The mirror, by Gaztelur, reflects a lamp owned by the client with a custom JAB fabric shade, a twin of the one on the left. Flanking the round 1940s mirror table from the Rock antiques dealer are two reupholstered Italian armchairs from the 1960s.
Below the two windows, a sofa custom made by the studio and upholstered with C&C fabric. It sits on a mat-type carpet designed specifically for this space and guarded by two antique tables with identical lamps. On the wall, a painting by Erin Lee Jones, at the Fahrenheit Madrid Gallery.
Beautiful composition for a corner full of charm: that of the green glass vase, by Gaztelur – like the candelabras -, with a floral arrangement by Mar López, the store’s florist, and the pair of glass girandoles that intermingle with the drawings on the mural from the wall and the round, folding game table. It is appreciated in its entirety.
Around it, a set of four French garden chairs from the antique dealer Kelly Deco.
“Our studio is a laboratory where we experiment with styles, eras and movements. We look to the past to make contemporary decisions,” explains the designer. Reform It focused on a change in distribution that met the client’s needs, in addition to a new approach to facilities that had to be included in a minimally invasive way.
The intention was always to maintain the essence of the house. Therefore, they preserved important elements such as doors, windows, shutters and radiators. They reused the wooden floor adapting it to the new project, and in the dining room, a central rug made of old hydraulic tiles that they found was integrated. “We thought they were perfect for this corner,” he says. This makes each space become a testimony of the timeless beauty, where materials and color form a tangible connection with the environment and its historical roots. Here, the decoration is an integral part and extension of the exterior architecture.
A certain Gustavian flavor emerges from this refined and friendly dining room. This is evident in the oval table made with reclaimed wood, the Swedish white-patinated wood chairs and the rural cherry wood cupboard. The kitchen is a custom design, according to needs, with a built-in porcelain sink and lava stone countertop.
Coral appliques with striped fabric lampshade from JAB.
The bathroom holds a surprise in the form of an old console with embedded shells that now functions as a sink cabinet, accompanied by a custom mirror and Objet Insolite sconces.
Again, one of the bathrooms in the house.
In the bedroom, the combination of pale green and black surprises and convinces. The gilded baroque console and the English marquetry armchair come from Gaztelur. The wooden ceiling light with linen shades is from Kelly Deco, and the custom wool rug is from Vandra Rugs.
It is a vacation home and it shows in the use of the incontestable binomial of summer: white and blue. “The intention was to make a cool housing, light where white was the protagonist and the range of blues in the living room contributed to achieving that freshness,” he explains. As a starting point, the Suite Royale paper that imitates a boiserie French in a particular way. Vincent Darré, faithful to his style, takes it completely out of context with the material, the line and the color. It seems, but it is not.
Other prints – such as the fabrics and papers on the bedroom headboards – help to provide dynamism, on very calm walls, almost absent of ornaments. The furniture is a combined mix of styles, antique pieces and contemporary elements that together create harmony and enhance the soul of the project. Many pieces come from Gaztelur, the interior designer’s store, and others from the owners, such as the black and white shell chest of drawers converted into a washbasin cabinet or the ceiling lamp in the living room. “Our interiors are designed to embrace the natural evolution of a space and gain value over time. They are made to last,” she concludes.
Upholstered headboard in Santiago Green Glaze, by Lewis & Wood.
A fun visual game between the wall upholstered with the Tribal Kalaharl Sand fabric, by Lewis & Wood, and the cushions with marine motifs, by Genevieve Levy. Without a doubt, a close-up that impacts with that headboard embedded in a large niche in the wall like a wooden canopy. Ingenious solution to integrate the cabinets so that they do not stand out in the set.
Time seems to have stopped in this bathroom with a sink that imitates antique models, wall sconces, by Opalina, and French armchair, by Gaztelur.
General view of the bedroom. On the Carpathian Flower rug, from Vandra Rugs, bench at the foot of the bed, rattan chair, easel and decorative paintings, all from Gaztelur. The ceiling lamp is from Ay Iluminate, Doppio Facet model.
The interior designer Marta de la Rica.
martadelarica.es
