6 rooms that define the interior design of Jacques Grange

Over the course of his 50-year career, Parisian Jacques Grange has established himself as the eminent interior designer to great collectors, artists and tastemakers. 

Both classic and modern in his approach, and with a passion for contemporary art, combined with a charming joie de vivre, his beautifully curated interiors each tell a unique story. We step into his interior design world to take a private tour. 

The eclectic collector

In the salon of his apartment, Jacques effortlessly mixes the simple with the sophisticated and understated, combining old-world luxury with contemporary art and design. 

Here, aristocratic refinement meets the eclecticism of an insatiable collector. As well as fine materials and craftsmanship, the space is filled with tangible mementos of places, artists and designers that have informed his creative universe. 

Jacques’ mastery of color is displayed by the carefully considered placement of artwork against the pale walls, such as the citron-yellow painting by Carla Accardi surmounted by a pale-blue canvas by Robert Motherwell. The armchair is by Art Nouveau designer Francis Jourdain.

Classic and modern

The interior designer’s eclectic tastes are displayed here in his apartment with an understated combination of furniture and works of art from a variety of periods. 

His natural, ‘non-designed’ aesthetic, at once lavish and comfortable, is revealed through his unusual way of grouping objects, a masterful combination of materials and colors and an unparalleled attention to detail. 

All in the detail

Jacques’ recent refurbishment of this elegant home in Florida is in the pure tradition of the glory years of Palm Beach elegance. Deeply sympathetic to the original villa, which was designed in1929 in the Mediterranean-revival style, Jacques describes his intervention as having simply ‘refreshed’ the interiors. But this hardly does justice to the levels of light and color he has infused into this luxurious house, with its vast array of imposing and eclectic architectural features, including elaborate wrought-iron balustrades and graceful colonnades. 

The furniture, palette and materials have all been chosen to harmonize with the garden and outside spaces. The entrance hall is dominated by the staircase with its imposing wrought-iron balustrade and a green divan sofa designed by Jacques himself.

Chintz charming

In 1990 Yves Saint Laurent called on Jacques Grange to design the interior of The Villa Mabrouka in Tangier, Morocco. Jacques says: 

‘The theme Yves wanted was that of an eccentric Englishman who had come to live there. He wanted chintz and one color per room.’ 

The house has a modern Moorish style with elegant contrasts and here, a mirror with a shell-encrusted frame by Armelle Fabre, typifies Jacques’ signature touch.

Monochrome marvel

On entering Pierre Passebon’s 1820s Directoire-era apartment in the centre of Paris – renovated in collaboration with Jacques – one is greeted by a spectacular 16th-century Italian marble fireplace carved in the form of a grotesque gaping mask. It is set in a chimney breast lined with French marble chequerboard tiles, the black and white motif inspired by Siena’s cathedral.

Pierre, an antique collector and art dealer, is the founder of the Galerie du Passage in Paris and this kind of aesthetic jolt in his own home speaks volumes about his eclectic tastes and his life’s work.

Tiled all over

The kitchen of Jacques’ own apartment in the heart of Paris is lined with exquisite antique blue and white azulejos tiles that he collected on trips to Portugal. He pairs them with 19th century-style chairs by celebrated interior designer Madeleine Castaing, an 18th-century Indo-Portuguese ivory cabinet and a vase by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, illustrating Jacques’ unexpected yet delightful combination three of different styles and periods.

Jacques Grange: Recent Work by Pierre Passebon (Flammarion) is available to buy on Amazon.