In Paris, an 1800s Horse Stable Is Now an Earth-Toned Tiny Apartment

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Project Details:

Location: Paris, France

Designer: Studio IDA / @studio_ida_

Footprint: 248 square feet

Photographer: Denys Vinson

From the Designer: “In 1850, this apartment was just a small stable at the end of a typical Parisian paved courtyard overlooking Boulevard Garibaldi. It had a tiled roof supported by an oak framework with a hayloft on the first floor. At that time, the Boulevard Garibaldi was the rampart between the city of Paris and the beginning of the city of Issy. Between 1853 and 1870, during the time of Baron Haussmann, the boulevard was built and the stable was incorporated into a Haussmanian building facing the boulevard. With the disappearance of the horses and the appearance of the metro, a façade was created and the stable became a small apartment.

“In 2024, the studio underwent a complete renovation. Everything was transformed and renovated. Curves are an integral part of this achievement; they hug the existing walls and facades and link the spaces together. “Made-to-measure” is at its peak here, where every detail counts.

“The project gives full place to natural materials and traditional techniques to give a second breath of life to the building: a crawl space regulates the humidity of the ground; the oak framework was repaired, lightened, and sanded; and the stone walls were plastered with a mixture of natural lime and pigments. The brick façade walls are insulated from the outside with wood fiber and a lime-hemp plaster is sprayed on the inside.

“The high ceilings and the old hayloft have been utilized to incorporate a sleeping area. The ground floor and the mezzanine are linked by a custom-made staircase that is curved and soft. This small area has all the makings of a large one—design and functionality work in symbiosis on this realization.”