Modernist house

Set on a 418 m² plot, it has a total surface area of 250 m², divided between the first floor (110 m² of living space) and the partly buried garden level (140 m²), laid out for the client’s professional needs.

On the first floor, a side entrance distributes a kitchen with dining area and a bright living space with lounge and dining room, opening onto a patio with wooden deck. Large bay windows let in plenty of light and open all rooms to the garden and vegetation.

The sleeping area comprises three bedrooms and three bathrooms, including a master suite with integrated bathroom.The garden level houses a workshop opening onto the garden through large French windows and a bright office, a photo laboratory, a windowless photo studio, a laundry room, a storeroom, a cellar and a boiler room. A two-car garage completes the ensemble.

The house enjoys a quiet residential setting in Neuilly-Plaisance, just a 10-minute walk from the shopping center. The banks of the Marne and the Coteaux d’Avron park offer nearby walks, greenery and leisure activities. Paris is 30 minutes away by car and RER A train.

The house’s interior features a sophisticated aesthetic, somewhere between craftsmanship and industry. Smooth or textured brick walls, painted or roughcast, sit alongside painted concrete, thick plaster and chestnut wood. Neutral, natural hues are enlivened by flat tints of bright colors, black and white.

The homes designed by Janine Abraham and Dirk Jan Rol are characterized by a holistic approach to architecture and interior design. For each project, they design a set of made-to-measure furnishing elements that integrate directly with the architecture. Through a play of volumes, clean lines and a contrasting palette of colors and textures, their innovative furnishings energize living spaces. A superb testimony to their work, this house has retained all its original fittings: bench, platform and custom bookcase in the living room; built-in cupboards and alcove with shelving in the dining room; beds, fold-away desks and built-in wardrobes in the bedrooms…

Fascinated by Japanese culture and its quest for harmony between man and nature, Janine Abraham and Dirk Jan Rol have developed a practice (close to the organic movement) that they describe as “naturalistic”, in that it exploits the beneficial effect of nature on the inhabitant’s psyche. They design buildings that are integrated into their environment, housing living spaces that are generously open to the outdoors, letting in light and allowing residents’ lives to evolve with the seasons.

Here, they exploit the slope of the land for discreet integration of the building into the topography, and combine modern materials involving cutting-edge manufacturing techniques, such as concrete, siporex and glass, with ancestral materials, natural and warm, such as wood and brick.

A legendary post-war design couple, Janine Abraham and Dirk Jan Rol worked together throughout their careers. They married in 1955 and opened their furniture and interior design agency, which later evolved into an architectural firm. They presented their first pieces at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1956.

Known for her revolutionary rattan creations, Janine Abraham graduated from the Ecole Camondo and designed her first pieces with Pierre Paulin and furniture publishers Huchers Minvielle. Dirk Jan Rol trained as a cabinetmaker in Holland before entering the Arts Décoratifs in Paris. He designed the Huchers Minvielle stores, as well as those of Yves Rocher, Conforama and the Saint-Gobain exhibition stands. The duo stand out for the modernity of their creations, which blend industrial and handcrafted, luxurious and modest materials.

In terms of architecture, they design villas open to nature in the Paris region, in which the landscape is an integral part of the habitat.

Their work was featured in 2017 at an exhibition at Galerie Pascal Cuisinier in Paris.