Unique greenhouse-inspired home in Paris

Charles and Julie Carmignac purchased this 1,600 square-foot home is 2009 in the 14th Arrondissement on this city’s lower Left Bank of Paris. Mr. Carmignac is a member of the folk-rock band Moriarty. This incredible home was originally built in the 1800s as a haberdashery. After looking at numerous other houses, the couple decided this was their dream house, which they purchased from a costume designer for a mere $1.8 million.

The couple imagined their future children running around this unique home, through the garden patio planted with rose, laurels and hydrangeas. The flowering vines climb up the exterior of the building and cover many of the windows creating a tropical green wall that gives the illusion of being in the middle of a forest. The towering bank of windows on the ground floor allows expansive views out onto the garden patio, giving the living area a greenhouse feeling. The master bedroom is located on the third floor with a large skylight and another terrace that is also dotted with foliage.

The interiors feature faded ivory stucco walls and worn hardwood floors which the couple chose to preserve. They also purchased some of the original owner’s furniture, including a 1920s armoire from the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris and a 1930s desk. The house has a very functional layout with a spacious living area, open plan kitchen, office and guest bathroom on the ground floor, and two bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor.

Ms. Carmignac is an actress and writer who typically works from home in a small room just off the kitchen, where there is a sloped glass ceiling that offers a clear view of the sky. “I love writing in this little room when the rain taps the glass,” she said. As for Mr. Carmignac, he has several work spaces, but his most favorite is the wood-paneled bathroom on the first floor. They had it decorated to model an old car on the Orient Express. He stores a notebook and pencil in this space for writing. It’s like a little office,” he explained, and it looks out onto the garden. “I can see the leaves through a porthole.” Via

The house sits on a quiet alley of Paris. It was built in the 1800s as a haberdashery.

The living room, with its towering wall of windows, looks out onto the front garden; at the rear is Ms. Carmignac’s office.

The cast-iron bookshelves are from the early 1900s and extend up to the mezzanine level.

The wood cabinets in the kitchen are remnants from the building’s days as a haberdashery. Near the ceiling is one of several portholes installed to allow cross ventilation.

The faucets on the kitchen sink were installed by a former owner, who purchased them at a flea market.

A photograph hangs in the dining room by the artist Lucien Pelen.

The wood-paneled bathroom was modeled after a passenger car on the old Orient Express. A porthole near the toilet offers a view of the garden.

The master bedroom opens to a terrace and has a skylight that spans the ceiling, covered with retractable straw shades.

The 1920s armoire in the second floor bathroom is originally from the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris.

The guest bedroom on the second floor, recently painted in a light blue,used to be a storage room.

Photos: Andreas Meichsner