Dealer Mins

In rural Normandy, Parisian gallerist François Laffanour turns a historic property into a showcase for modern art and design.

- William Middleton

With its traditional beamed facade, the 17th-century manor house appears typical of the Pays d'Auge, a rural region in Normandy, France, filled with rolling hills, horse farms, and apple orchards. Step inside, however, and W one enters a different world, where owner François Laffanour has created a minimalist backdrop for the modern furniture and contemporary art he collects. Meanwhile, the property now also boasts a midcentury addition: a prefab house by the iconic French designer Jean Prouvé. "I feel strongly that historic architecture enhances contemporary art [and design]," Laffanour says. "For me, it harmonizes perfectly."

In the 1980s, Laffanour was a furniture dealer at the Paris flea market when he opened his Downtown Gallery on the Left Bank. Quickly, he became one of the leading forces behind the international ascension of French modernist designers, including Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, Serge Mouille, and Pierre Jeanneret. In addition to an apartment he keeps in Paris, Laffanour spends much of his free time at his Normandy home, a two-story manor house set on 70 acres. He oversaw the renovation and interior design, with help from architect Mikael Klatzkow and designer Jean de Piépape.