The plot, on a gently sloping street in an affluent residential neighborhood, presented the first challenge. Not only did it have little distinguishing vegetation—save for a few Washingtonia palms, a Brazilian pepper tree, and several euphorbia shrubs—but it was relatively constrained in size, with views that were less than spectacular. The clients, meanwhile, with four children and an impulse for hospitality, wanted a family home that lent itself to epicurean living—the kind of multifunctional pad where spilling out onto the roof terrace for dinner or congregating around the kitchen island for a nightcap were just two of the endless entertaining options. “They are maximalists, and they wanted everything: a hammam, a gym, a pool, a cave à vin, several kitchens,” says Marty, chuckling. “The house is like a mini hotel.”
The architects’ solution was to orient the sun-splashed dwelling around a lushly planted central courtyard, in a subtle nod to a traditional riad. In addition to several bedrooms, the ground floor holds a gray Blanc Zayan marble-clad hammam, gym, and pool salon. A wood-cast concrete spiral staircase—cinematic, even before the duo added a gold velvet carpet—leads to the piano nobile–style second floor and a lofty combination of open-plan living area, Ceppo di Alba marble kitchen, and primary bedroom suite. “The family likes to spend a lot of time together, but everyone is doing something different. Here, you can have someone doing their homework on the table, next to the mother who is cooking,” says Fournier.
Every surface has been lavished with detail, from the vertically interlocking walnut panels that clad the walls in the hallway and the main bedroom, to the board-formed concrete living room fireplace. Its chimney breast hovers just about a foot-and-a-half above the floor, so that the flickering flames will be reflected in the patinated brass legs of the Men Allen leather chairs. Newly acquired vintage pieces have been given narrative significance. In the hallway, a painting by the Moroccan artist and writer Mahi Binebine hangs opposite an antique toga-clad statue that Fournier found in a Paris flea market. “That was a bit of a fantasy, imagining that it was a Roman ruin that had come from [the archaeological site] Volubilis, which is not very far away,” says Marty.