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Ellie Peugeot’s approach to interiors was forged by her love of “cross-collecting”—layering styles and eras to create spaces eclectic and harmonious, but never overstuffed. “I get just as excited by an emerging contemporary artist as I do by a strong Georgian William and Mary chest, an Art Deco bas relief, an antique Uzbek textile, or a 4,000-year-old Greek vase,” she says of her wide-ranging, almost archaeological appreciation, a seemingly natural extension of her background. Peugeot was born in Iran, moved to Canada as a child, attended school in the U.K., and finally settled in Paris, where she lives today. Both sides of the Channel have influenced her style, but she admits, “What is certain is that the French are completely uncompromising when it comes to craftsmanship, quality, and design.”
A pair of guardhouses, one of which is now the weekend retreat of Peugeot, flanks the entrance to Château d’Ormesson.
Simon Brown
Vintage straw hats and baskets fill the boot room. The trompe-l’oeil stone walls and faux-marble banisters were hand-painted by a decorative artist. Lantern, Julie Neill for Visual Comfort.
Simon Brown
Peugeot perches on the rail of a Juliet balcony.
James NelsonPeugeot established her design studio in 2019, but she honed her eye and fine-tuned her taste during her former life as a human rights lawyer. For years, friends turned to her for advice about collecting, and soon her circle expanded to include clients who commissioned her for design work. One of her first major projects was an apartment on London’s Eaton Square once owned by Isabella Blow; since then, much of her attention has been dedicated to historic homes, perhaps the most significant of which is the 16th-century guardhouse in Ormesson-sur-Marne outside of Paris where she and her family—husband Edouard, children Tristan and Aria, and a Samoyed named Laika—spend their weekends.
The living room is “quite English in its layout and design,” says Peugeot. La Pannonie embroidered silk by Braquenié—the pattern is based on an 18th-century wallpaper—dresses the windows. The twin blue Napoleonic chairs were sourced from the Paris auction house Drouot.
JAMES NELSON
Peugeot incorporated rattan pieces and shell-shaped sconces by Soane Britain and tables from Brownrigg Antiques in London. The restored 16th-century mirror and andirons are original to the house.
James Nelson
Peugeot sources antique frames—Maison Samson in Paris is a favorite purveyor—for her art collection.
Simon BrownThe estate, which encompasses nearly 350 acres of parkland (designed by Louis XIV’s landscape architect, André Le Nôtre) and a château that dates back to the late 1500s, has been in Edouard’s family for nearly 400 years. When the couple relocated from London to Paris, they decided to renovate one of the property’s two guardhouses—the “pavillon gauche,” specifically—to use as a weekend retreat.
The first challenge was to carefully restore the small, three-story structure, which had fallen into disrepair and needed to be completely stripped back. “At the onset, we discovered that the pipes of the heating system, located under the ground floor, were strewn with hairline cracks, and had been slowly leaking for years, possibly decades, leading to major cracks in the façade,” recalls Peugeot. “To complicate matters, the pavilion and the entire site are registered as a Monument Historique, so restorations had to be slow and meticulous.”
A ruffled hanging shade from Beauvamp, under-counter storage concealed by a Décors Barbares fabric skirt, and rattan Soane Britain sconce up the kitchen’s country charm. Peugeot sourced antique wooden beams from a farmhouse in Provence and found 17th-century tomette tiles that matched the house’s original flooring. Marble sink by Devol with Perrin & Rowe fixtures.
Simon Brown
In the dining room, chairs from the family château are still covered in their original velvet. Wallpaper, Pierre Frey.
Simon Brown
The dining room’s first-edition Piranesi depictions of Rome were a gift from Edouard’s mother.
Simon BrownOnce the building was deemed structurally sound, she set about reintegrating a “hastily done” postwar addition and updating the house for modern family life. Fortunately, Peugeot—who also serves as trustee and chair of the International Council for the World Monuments Fund in France—was more than equipped to handle such a sensitive renovation, enlisting a team of artisans and craftspeople specializing in traditional methods of carpentry, decorative painting, fabric-making, and more. She scoured antique dealers to find 17th-century terra-cotta tomettes for the floors and brought in ceiling beams from Provence that would blend seamlessly with the original architecture.
Like the kitchen, the main bathroom was fitted with antique tomettes and beams, while custom paneling (painted in Eddy by Farrow & Ball) adds warmth. Lighting by Aerin for Visual Comfort; curtain fabric and mirror, Soane Britain
Simon Brown
Curtains, antique Louis XVII chairs, and a custom eiderdown in an array of Soane Britain prints fill the primary bedroom.
Simon Brown
A ceiling light by Beata Heuman, table lampshade by Alice Palmer, and Décors Barbares fabric skirt make this bathroom feel extra cozy.
Simon BrownNow filled with traditional textiles and wallcoverings, laid-back rattan, skirted sinks, and 16th-century furnishings original to the château, the home deftly combines the warmth and charm of an English country house with the refined elegance of a French ancestral pile. It’s an example of the balanced, curatorial approach to mise-en-scène that Peugeot brings to all of her projects—one that she likens to a gathering of characters that make up an ideal dinner party. “This is where the fun is—understanding where clients wish to go and helping them set the backdrop to expand their collections,” she says. “It is something that takes time; you cannot rush the process.”
The original beams and frame of the attic were exposed and stained during renovations to increase the ceiling height of the children’s bedrooms. Antique gingham eiderdowns top the Victorian iron beds.
Simon Brown
The children’s toy mice rest on a Nicole Fabre ikat pillow.
Simon Brown
After dinner, the children pick wild blackberries from the garden.
Simon BrownSee this and more stylish French homes in Arbiters of Style: The New Wave of French Interior Design by Eugenia Santiesteban Soto, coming soon from Monacelli. Pre-order your copy today!
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 19 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!
