A 678-Square-Foot Art Nouveau Gem Sparkles in Paris

In Paris’s 16th arrondissement, the Castel Béranger is a unique landmark, the first Art Nouveau apartment building in France’s capital. It was completed in 1898 by Hector Guimard, and the building’s boldly asymmetrical design, the recessed openings on its façade, its bow windows, and its ingenious combinations of materials, colors, and shapes propelled the young designer to early fame. The interiors are stunning as well, with ornate ironwork and stained-glass windows, and even the smallest details and decorative arabesques are the result of a carefully calculated design that never loses sight of the importance of creating a building that is beautiful but also functional.

“I was already living in Paris and I was looking for a bigger apartment,” confides Octavian Popa, the owner of a unit in the building. “I wasn’t looking for a place with so much character, and I didn’t know the Castel Béranger. I was just following up on an ad I’d seen. Of course, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, and I still love it!” As he talks about the building, Popa, who is enthusiastic about his love for Paris, describes the building as a little museum of Art Nouveau that you wouldn’t expect to find in such a typically Haussmannian neighborhood. The well-preserved gem never fails to amaze visitors with original details like its elevator, stained-glass windows, and parquet flooring.

The small 1950s Italian bookcase with a built-in desk fits perfectly into the compact living room (Paul Bert Serpette). On its shelves, on the left, a head of a young man, from the first to second century CE, previously owned by designer Kenzo Takada, and, to its right, the top of a hermaic pillar depicting Dionysus, also from the first to second century CE (both from Galerie Chenel). Below, a late 18th-century Orthodox icon from the Saidnaya convent in Syria.

Many elements of the apartment are listed, from the ceiling to the door handles, and they provide the home with much of its charm. The bedroom’s parquet floor was not protected, however, and its wide strips clashed with other elements. With the help of decorators at CM Studio Paris, who were entrusted with the renovation of the unit, an identical copy of the parquet floor in the dining room was created, and its thinner stripes unified the entire space. “I loved working with CM Studio; they understood right away what I wanted, they were very receptive, and always gave good advice and had great taste,” Popa says. The kitchen and bathrooms were also not protected and they were, of course, also redone. In the dining room the lower walls were embellished with Art Nouveau–inspired arabesque drawings by Barazandeh Dauzincourt, who specializes in decorative and ornamental painting. In the bedroom, a reissued wallpaper design by Hector Guimard continues the theme of integrating elements that add to the authenticity of the home and stay true to the spirit of the original design. “We always kept in mind the goal of unifying and preserving the original look. Doors, ceilings, everything was freshened up. That’s what I wanted—not to change anything, just to enhance it,” Popa says.

In the dining room, the doors, stained-glass windows, moldings, ceiling, and the narrow-strip parquet floor are all original as they were listed elements of the home. Danish chairs from the 1950s sit around a table designed by Casey Johnson and Sandra Weingort. The ornamental paintings on the lower parts of the walls are by decorative painter Barazandeh Dauzincourt and were based on a design for a Parisian apartment dining room by Hector Guimard (Baraz Arts Décoratifs).

The introduction of midcentury Italian and Danish furniture into a listed avant-garde apartment designed by Hector Guimard brings it forth from the 19th century.

The walls are in a pale celadon green. “I’ve always loved the green found in Ladurée stores and I was eager to have it specially made. It evokes the natural spirit of the building and the Art Nouveau style with its botanically inspired arabesques,” Popa explains. It’s a calm tone that pairs well with white. In the bedroom, however, the walls are a terra-cotta color, which the owner describes as “Marrakech red.” He explains his approach to his home: “I love mixing tones and styles. From a trip to Lebanon, I brought back both a small Orthodox icon originally from Syria and ashtrays that I found in the antique district of Basta, one of the last souks in old Beirut. From every trip I bring back things, ideas, objects.”

Born in Romania, Popa works for a major private bank and splits his time between Paris and Zurich. In 2018, this Parisian at heart, a globe-trotting geopolitical enthusiast who speaks five languages and is also passionate about interior design, founded his own communications agency. Popa has an enormous appetite for activity and an unquenchable curiosity while always being focused on what is authentic and true in everything he does.

The original fireplace was designed by Hector Guimard. Above it, a painting by Huguette Arthur Bertrand (Galerie Diane de Polignac). The light fixture hanging above the table is a vintage Italian find from the 1950s.

The apartment isn’t large and Popa is aware that he would have to be selective as there isn’t room for too much furniture. An admirer of midcentury designs from Italy and Denmark, he purchased an Italian bookcase from the 1950s at the Paul Bert-Serpette antiques market. The small bookcase with its built-in desk fits perfectly into the small living room. It sits alongside a small Italian sofa from the same period, found in Lyon, France, and a Maison Jansen coffee table. Next to the window, there’s a small Chinese table from the São Schlumberger collection, restored by hand. On the wall, a painting by the Italian artist Raffaele Cioffi was found by Popa in Milan when he was studying for his MBA. “I love the pink in it,” he says, “which brings some unexpected life to the apartment.” In the dining room, around a Japanese-inspired table by designers Sandra Weingort and Casey Johnson, there are Danish chairs that were found at a small flea market in Provence. “Over the fireplace, there’s a painting by Huguette Arthur Bertrand in the vein of works by [Serge] Poliakoff or [Gérard] Schneider that I love so much.”

In the living room, a pair of FD148 armchairs by Peter Hvidt and Olga Mølgaard Nielsen, circa 1950. Behind them, a small Chinese table from the São Schlumberger collection. Above it a painting by Milan-based artist Raffaele Cioffi.

In the bedroom, the bespoke bed was inspired by Danish designs and made in Provence: The slim teak piece blends perfectly with the color of the walls. “I love the simplicity of Scandinavian design, its clean shapes and elegance. In the apartment, everything works together, because there’s a consistent visual scale,” Popa says. Above the bed, there’s a photograph by Italian designer Massimo Listri. A midcentury hanging light fixture, also Italian, comes from a gallery in Lyon. Popa, always searching for antiques and objects to enrich the decor of his home, is looking for another head to place on the bookcase. “But I have to find the right one. I’m taking my time, I don’t like the idea of walking into a gallery, writing a check, and leaving. It has to be something I fall in love with, there has to be a little intellectual work involved—going to several galleries and taking my time. There’s a lot of furniture and objects in this apartment that I bought as I went along. I had the São Schlumberger table for five years, waiting to find the right place to put it.”

This apartment tour was first published by AD France. It was translated by John Newton.

The walls in “Ladurée green,” as the owner likes to call the color, match perfectly with the curvaceous shapes, scrolls, and arabesques of the ornamental paintings (Baraz Arts Décoratifs). The original niches, cupboards, windows, and doorframes are all listed.

On the bookshelf, a Greek head from the third to fourth century BCE.

In front of the Danish armchairs in the living room, a coffee table from Maison Jansen. The hammered silver ashtray comes from the Basta flea market in Beirut.

A small Italian sofa from the 1950s is exactly the right size for the room (Danke Galerie). Carpet (Toulemonde Bochart).

A view of the living room from the dining room. “The apartment is small, but there’s still a living room, a dining room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and an entry,” says the owner. “The layout is perfect for such a small space with every square inch used.”

In the bedroom, the slim teak custom-made bed blends perfectly with the color of the walls. The photograph above the bed is by designer Massimo Listri.

The reissued wallpaper designed by Hector Guimard adds to the authenticity of the apartment’s restoration (L’Atelier Offard).

The entrance, with its celadon-green walls, elaborate doors, stained-glass windows, and built-in shelving unit, was restored by CM Studio Paris under the supervision of Monuments de France.

The bathroom is in the same terra-cotta tone as the adjoining bedroom.

While the radiators are new, a design was chosen that is as close as possible to the originals and in keeping with the Art Nouveau spirit of the apartment, which was respected by the decorators at CM Studio Paris who were in charge of the restoration. Above the radiator, a small ceramic mural.

The building’s inimitable stairwell.

Details of the elaborate designs in blue-green ironwork atop flamed sandstone in the entrance of the Castel Béranger.

Another view of the entrance hall with its decorative elements and flamed sandstone.

The façade of the Castel Béranger combines a stone base, iron lintels, and cast-iron railings.

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