La Lanterne du Marais – All Shares Sold

Located at: 8 Rue du Roi de Sicile, 75004 Paris

THE APARTMENT

• Spacious One-bedroom, Three Rooms—41.72 Square Meters (Loi Carrez) (450 square feet)
• Full bathroom with large shower + separate toilet en-suite
• With a queen-size sleeper sofa, sleeps up to 4 comfortably
• 1st Floor (European)

Once upon a time, in centuries past, this apartment was made up of five different small lots, now fully incorporated into one beautiful apartment. This building housed “Le Cabaret du Gros-Pavé,” photographed in 1910, by Eugène Atget, which gives credence to my assumption about the possible use of the small rooms on the first floor above the cabaret to have been a kind of “love hotel!”

The street has an impressive history. Its name, rue du Roi de Sicile, refers to the townhouse of Charles I, Count of Anjou and Count of Provence, the brother of St. Louis and designated King of Naples and Sicily in 1266. He had a townhouse (“hôtel particulier”) built there at numbers 2-4 and at 14-22 rue Pavée, leaning against the wall of Philip-Augustus. This home was sold and rebuilt many times over the following centuries and became the Hôtel de la Force, which served as a prison.

In the 17th century, the street was part of an east-west road parallel to the Seine, branching off from rue Saint-Antoine. Philippe-Auguste’s enclosure, built around 1200, cut off its direct outlet onto rue Saint-Antoine, which led to the creation of the rue des Ballets, now known as rue Malher. The street is known to have been inhabited as early as 1261, but its name at that time is unknown. Under the name “rue au Roy-de-Sezille,” it is mentioned in Le Dit des Rues de Paris, a publication written between 1280 and 1300 by Guillot de Paris. It is cited under the name of “rue du Roy de Sicile” in a manuscript of 1636 kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

In the 17th-century, the Académie Française held its first meetings at the home of Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, at the Hôtel Pellevé on rue du Roi-de-Sicile, at the corner of rue Tison. It is there that the statutes of the Academy were written, as well as the first steps for its foundation. In the 18th-century, the street, like others in the district, was not very well known, often cited in the minutes of criminal cases. It was renamed “rue des Droits-de-l’Homme” during the revolutionary period, between 1792 and 1806, after the revolutionary section that officiated there. In the nineteenth century, the street was famous for the numerous cap makers.

The building is at the corner of rue Pavée, which has its own illustrious history. In the 14th-century, royal townhomes began to be established here and it was the first paved (cobblestone) street in Paris. With all this history in its exposed oak beams, it’s oozing with charm in spite of its updated interior. The location puts it steps from the Métro Saint-Paul, rue Saint-Antoine and everything Le Marais has to offer. From the windows, you have a view of the Carousel and down rues Roi de Sicile and Pavée, reminding you constantly of the age of the building and all that surrounds it.

Illustrious interior designer, Martine di Mattéo, was commissioned to completely renovate the apartment in order to bring it up to our standards…perfection. The bathroom was enlarged to be even more luxurious than it already was; we moved what is now a corner kitchen to the entry so that it is fully equipped and very workable with all the bells and whistles; and added various custom cabinetry and special furnishings. The apartment is enhanced by two original murals by French Trompe l’Oeil artist Pascal Amblard. The color schemes are bold, but livable and chosen luxurious fabrics and finishes, furnishings, and lighting fixtures.

Martine always brilliantly executes the concept of “creating one story.” She is a master at marrying color, design, and form in a way that makes you feel right at home the moment you enter, even if it’s not obvious why you feel so welcome. The goal is to simply be fun, filled with happiness, the love of life, and good karma. The apartment is beautiful, luxurious, warm and comfortable, fully functional and a delight and pleasure to be in every day of the year, even all summer long with central heat and air conditioning. It’s missing nothing.

You enter a fully-equipped galley kitchen with two windows. One overlooking the carrousel at the Métro Saint-Paul and the other overlooking rue Pavée. The cabinetry is distressed aqua-colored wood and there is tons of storage for all the special kitchenware. In the kitchen, there is a four-burner stovetop, a full oven, a dishwasher, a washer/dryer, and a microwave. Dimmable over-the-counter lighting illuminates the workspace in any intensity you might want.

Walk from there to the living room/dining room through a wall of ancient exposed beams to where a nook with a secretary-style desk is to your right—a perfect spot for you to write your memoir, answer emails, or surf the Internet.

Just ahead is a non-working fireplace, a bookshelf for all your guidebooks to France, a dining table and chairs adjacent to a padded bench for seating. The table easily seats four when not fully extended, but otherwise can accommodate up to six when you have your guests for dinner. There are two windows in this room west-facing overlooking rue Pavée that will brighten up all of your Paris afternoons.

Walk further into the room to discover a sleeper sofa over which is an original painting by Trompe l’Oeil artist Pascal Amblard facing a large flat-screen TV for lots of lazy times watching movies that take place in France (or whatever your heart desires)!

Turn the corner and you’ll find a full bath to your right with a large shower, a heavenly shower head, lots of mirrors with perfect lighting for shaving or putting on make-up, a “seche serviette” (towel warmer), and lots of storage to hide away all your personal effects.

When you go just a bit further into the bedroom, you’ll discover another toilet with a sink so you don’t have to go far to midnight relief, an enormous handcrafted closet for more belongings than you can possibly bring with you, a café table, and chairs in front of a window at which you can pen your poems overlooking rue du Roi de Sicile. In addition, there is another flat-screen TV for late-night viewing from the comfort of your bed and the bed is a Queen-size made up of twins that can be separated to accommodate just about anyone’s sleeping habits.

All the windows are double-paned for total silence. The apartment is air-conditioned and heated for year-round comfort. It is equipped with an abundance of linens of the finest quality. The kitchen is missing nothing so even the finest of chefs will be content creating gourmet meals.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood is for want of nothing, too. No matter in which direction you turn, everything is at your toes. The Seine is a short walk away, as is the Ile Saint-Louis, Place de la Bastille, Place des Vosges, l’Hôtel de Ville, the BHV Department store, rue des Francs Bourgeois, rue des Rosiers, etc., etc., etc. Just next door on rue Pavée is the famous Agoudas Hakehilos Synagogue designed by Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard erected between 1913 and 1914. Just a short walk down rue Saint-Paul is the hidden Village Saint-Paul and steps away is the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. What’s in the immediate vicinity is so overwhelmingly abundant that it would be near to impossible to note it all here.

Transportation abounds, with the Métro Line #1 in front of the apartment and numerous buses to take you wherever you want to go, but the location is so central, that you might find yourself walking just about everywhere.

To learn more, contact us at [email protected]