Description
An exceptional apartment in a Parisian Art Deco jewel
Located in the iconic stepped building designed by Henri Sauvage and Charles Sarazin and listed as a Historic Monument, this exceptional apartment offers generous volumes, abundant natural light, and refined Art Deco elegance.
An entrance gallery opens onto a 160 sq.m reception area.
This space enjoys remarkable brightness thanks to a ceiling height of nearly 3 meters.
The stepped design of the building provides open views as well as a balcony of nearly 13 sq.m, accessible directly from the living area.
The dining room connects to the kitchen, which includes a pantry and a laundry room.
The sleeping area comprises a master suite with bathroom and walk-in dressing room. A hallway leads to two additional bedrooms and a second bathroom. All bedrooms feature large built-in wardrobes, overlook the courtyard, and enjoy absolute quiet.
The property is completed by a double cellar.
The legal status of the apartment allows for the installation of a professional practice.
Situated in the heart of Paris’s 6th arrondissement, the stepped building enjoys a rare and privileged location, just a few meters from the Jardin du Luxembourg.
It benefits from the vitality of its neighborhood and offers all amenities nearby: shops, schools, and public transport (Vavin and Notre-Dame-des-Champs metro stations) within immediate proximity. Its location also provides easy access to Montparnasse train station.
A legacy of innovation and experimentation
The stepped building, constructed between 1912 and 1914 by Henri Sauvage and Charles Sarazin, marks a turning point in modern Parisian architecture.
Its innovative reinforced concrete structure allows the successive setback of the upper floors. This process creates private terraces and a harmonious visual break from the traditional street alignment, while ensuring light and ventilation within the apartments. The building’s façade, clad in white and blue glazed ceramic tiles, embodies the clean, unornamented aesthetic of Art Deco.
The first Parisian example of this type, the building illustrates Henri Sauvage’s hygienist principles (combating disease, promoting ventilation and sunlight) as well as his technical innovations, such as condominium ownership. Although initially designed for social housing, it ultimately attracted a bourgeois clientele, becoming a symbol of early 20th-century architectural avant-garde.
With its bright and functional spaces, the apartment continues to embody the ideals of well-being and modernity championed by its architects.
Henri Sauvage, the architect of another modernity
Henri Sauvage (1873–1932) was a major figure in early 20th-century French architecture. Both decorator and architect, he quickly rejected the academicism of his Beaux-Arts training to embrace Art Nouveau, as illustrated by the Villa Majorelle in Nancy, before evolving toward Art Deco with landmark projects such as La Samaritaine.
Deeply concerned with hygiene and well-being, Henri Sauvage designed affordable housing and bourgeois buildings in which he experimented with reinforced concrete, in line with constructive rationalism. Together with his partner Charles Sarazin, he invented the stepped-building system, which they patented in 1912, in order to gain space and maximize sunlight for residential units. His work reflects a picturesque and original modernity that now holds a distinctive place within French architectural heritage.
Technical Details
Asking price: €4,490,000
Agency fees payable by the seller
Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisques website: www.georisques.gouv.fr
© Textes & photos Architecture de Collection
© Photos Manuel Bougot
© Home staging Maison Mirbel, Courtesy Galerie Romain Morandi, Remix Gallery & Jean-Baptiste Bouvier
Energy Performance Rating (DPE): E – Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GES): E
Estimated annual energy costs (based on average energy prices indexed to the years 2021, 2022, and 2023): between €6,460 and €8,800 per year, including subscriptions.
