While modern design often neglects cultural and artistic heritage in favor of minimalism, Siraudeau demonstrates that it isn’t necessary to forgo tradition to create a fashionable home. With his eye for idiosyncratic details, Siraudeau has an exceptional flair for finding homes characterized with vintage style, where antique objects invoke nostalgia and time-tested quality. French writer and musician Boris Vian declared, “Any object can be an objet d’art once put in a frame,” and that innovative spirit shines through in the one hundred properties featured here. From 1960s mannequins to antique books to a salvaged Parisian streetlamp, any kind of paraphernalia can define and enrich the personality of a home by giving it a history. Styles and periods don’t need to match because French design is about integrating the unexpected alongside unconventional details to make a modern home unique.

The reader is guided through some of the most remarkable locations in France, each abounding with features that characterize the unique French flair for home decorating. From delightful rural guesthouses, exquisite townhomes, and charming seaside retreats to the best of France’s antique shops, Siraudeau reveals how an extraordinarily diverse range of ambiences can be achieved by integrating the simplest of decorative touches. His ideas and advice are astute to contemporary comforts and the practicalities of modern living, and his exquisite photos, flooded with the soft light of a French summer, make this an invaluable volume for admirers of French style.