Faced with a faded apartment in a 1970's building in Monte Carlo, a young design firm looks back to the glittering heyday of the principality to create a glamorous and witty escape for today.
A pair of iconic 1970's images by the society photographer Slim Aarons hangs on the walls of a Monte Carlo apartment decorated by Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet. One is Poolside Gossip, shot at the Richard Neutra–designed Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. The other was taken in the south of France, at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, which has welcomed everyone from Marc Chagall to Cate Blanchett. “It’s one of those rare places that’s as authentic and magical today as it was in the 1950's,” Humbert says.
It was precisely the glamour those photos encapsulated that the designers wished to capture in their renovation of an apartment on Monaco’s Avenue Princesse Grace, which has been called the most expensive street in the world. “We are nostalgic for the golden era of the French Riviera,” says Humbert, who in 2007 established a design studio here with Poyet. (A decade later their firm is very much on the rise, with projects ranging from residences in France and Hong Kong to restaurants in Berlin and Mexico City to the Parisian flagship of the fashion designer Alexis Mabille.)
This story is from the January 2017 edition of Elle Decor.
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This story is from the January 2017 edition of Elle Decor.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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