The Cosack Leuchten swing-arm lamp above the custom banquette dining area.
This compact waterfront home amplifies the red-tiled roofs of the French Riviera, designed for a seafaring Belgian family.
A Belgian family’s interest in boating brought them to Port Grimaud, France, where they fell in love with the medieval village, likened to ‘little Venice’. While the couple and their two children had returned to a smaller studio apartment for many years, their desire for more space and to moor their boat out front led them to purchase a two-level home “where friends could come and go,” designer Pieter Vanrenterghem says.
Vanrenterghem was challenged with a small area—just 35 square metres on each level—and an extensive program. The ground floor was to include a living area, dining table, entrance, staircase, and guest toilet. Upstairs, there were to be two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small dressing room, and a compact laundry area. “We were fortunate to be able to remove all of the walls easily, keeping only the staircase and all the openings in the façades,” Vanrenterghem notes.
He was also tasked with creating an interior that felt a world away from the family’s Belgian home. “Terracotta was a natural choice” in line with the home’s context, in particular, the village’s terracotta-tiled roofs, so Vanrenterghem based every material and hue around it.
The terracotta-tiled kitchen island was designed as a response to spatial limitations. It features a circular sink and induction, and travertine benchtop.
Vanrenterghem selected lime plaster to reference the home’s exterior, and as a longer-lasting finish in tighter spaces like the staircase.
During the design process, the plans evolved significantly, which tested Vanrenterghem on how to use every square metre efficiently. “On first look, it can be deceiving; the house has every comfort and equipment of a traditional house with more regular measurements,” he adds.
Spatial limitations led to a round terracotta-tiled kitchen island, with a circular sink and induction, which soon became the home’s protagonist, with open timber shelves also contributing to an increased sense of space. “For the kitchen benchtop, we selected red travertine for its richness, trying to make the kitchen island look like one volume,” Vanrenterghem says.
The kitchen plays to the client’s vision for relaxed gatherings, just like the expandable made-to-measure banquette dining area, oriented towards the terrace, which features an outdoor kitchen and bar. “The floor-to-ceiling glass is designed to completely slide into the walls, meaning indoors and outdoors feel like an extension of the other,” Vanrenterghem explains.
Making the most of the waterfront, an outdoor terrace with kitchen and bar are accessed through the floor-to-ceiling sliding door.
“The natural stone we picked first of all for the colour, but also to elevate the primary suite,” Vanrenterghem says.
The Vieques bathtub by Patricia Urquiola in the primary suite.
Sultry is the word Vanrenterghem uses to describe the ochre and terracotta-saturated interiors. The home previously had a terracotta floor, which was replaced in a different format but used as the springboard for the lime plaster, a red travertine vanity, a silky clay-toned carpet, and brushed bronze fixtures and spotlights above. “We chose a lime finish to match the exterior texture of Port Grimaud’s houses,” Vanrenterghem says. “Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but also more durable in tighter spaces like the staircase.”
Vanrenterghem was very intentional about which design pieces to bring into the home. The Cosack Leuchten swing-arm lamp above the dining table is one of the designer’s vintage finds from Morentz Gallery, with the newly designed Moncloud sofa by Patricia Urquiola for Cassina opposite. Designs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s include the Pierre Chapo B17C library, Gianfranco Frattini’s round tables for Cassina, the Flag Halyard chair by Hans J. Wegner for PP Mobler, and the Lari lamp by Angelo Mangiarotti for Karakter.
“The clients visit their home very frequently, spending every long weekend and holiday there to enjoy boating and the beautiful weather,” Vanrenterghem says on the project’s success, as the family make the most of his carefully thought-out design.
Red travertine was selected for the primary suite and the kitchen benchtop.
Brushed bronze fixtures feature in the bathrooms and kitchen.
