Hunting for a Paris Apartment III

Postcards from Paris ... Having a Crush

Looking for a Paris apartment has its challenges, especially if you are not in Paris. To begin with, there is no MLS service that lists all of the apartments. All the real estate agencies work for themselves and will only show you their listings. Sometimes a seller will list their apartment with several different agencies, and sometimes you will see multiple ads for the same apartment, at different prices!

Having lost our first love, the “Bourdonnais,” I started to pay more attention to the rules of the Paris real estate market, and tried to learn the ropes, even from a distance. I learned to fine-tune the location within Paris, and subscribed to the notion that an investment apartment had to be in one of the single digit arrondissements, preferably the 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th.

I learned to differentiate between the low and high end real estate agents in the 7th, and figured out which rental agencies catered to the high end American clients who could (hopefully) eventually rent my apartment. I figured out all the various ways to view apartments over the internet and got my morning exercise by virtually walking up and down the streets of Paris with Google maps, practically salivating over a virtual croissant in a neighborhood bakery.

Rue de Verneuil in the 7th, as seen on the street view from Google maps. Helpful…un peu.

Shop fronts along Rue de Verneuil

Doing everything long distance was a tough challenge, especially when there were so many bad apartments to weed through. But when this little charmer came up on my radar, again thanks to Cecil Jones, of Just France, I pounced on it.

The exterior – oh-so-promising! The facade is elegant white limestone – so chic, so Parisian. But what’s hiding inside?

I had a little crush on the apartment from the get-go, mostly because of its stellar location but also because it had good bones, and some irreplaceable old fashioned charm in the bedroom and dressing area. I could just envision the elegant petite dame who had probably lived there for most of her life. Perhaps where the elegant petite madame laid her head to rest every night…?

Oh dear. A closet fit for a…petite madame with a petite wardrobe. Hhmmm.

Its location in the totally crush-worthy “Carre des Antiquaires” part of the 7th, behind the Musée d’Orsay, is definitely “le top” in Paris terms. The streets are small, elegant and charming and lined with mostly white limestone 17^th century buildings that house high end art galleries and antique stores, along with a few marvelous restaurants and fancy gourmet shops, all just steps away from the Seine and a puddle jump from the exquisite Tuileries gardens.

The scene in the 7th

Plus, the building had a sweet courtyard and the most rare and precious commodity of all, especially in a 17^th century building: An elevator! But for the most part, it needed to be redone from scratch and it had the fatal flaw of facing north, which you’ll come to learn is my ultimate bugaboo.

The “grande” salon has such charming touches – the antique fireplace, original moldings, and large windows (which must have curtains, unfortunately).

View from the grande salon into the petite salon

The kitchen…oh mon Dieu! But nothing new wallpaper & appliances can’t fix. The layout, however, is a wee bit trickier to change.

La toilette…in need of a little update, don’t you think?

Through Cecil, I found a wonderful young man who was a part-time architecture instructor at the Sorbonne, who visited the apartment and sent me his opinion, along with a few more pictures. He gave the location the expected high A, the courtyard a B, and, much to my dismay, the apartment a C+. Why? Because of the layout, the north facing windows and the shallow depth of the courtyard, ensured that it would always be dark.

Looking up from the courtyard – Voila! The sky! (way up there…) And such large, charming windows that face the (shady) interior. Who needs natural light, really?

I didn’t want to give up easily, so I studied the pictures and layout in the greatest detail and -- you’ll get used to this, I am a design nerd -- went to bed each night with pencil and paper trying to manipulate and stretch the layout to yield a viable two bedroom, two bath apartment. (I’ve since learned to stay away from apartments that are too big to be cost effective one-bedrooms but are not big enough to be viable two bedrooms.)

Try and try again, nothing can undo the northward orientation or lack of 2nd bedroom. Phooey!

But I had to wonder. Although it had many charming characteristics, and a neighborhood that was le plus ultra, even the most extensive redo wouldn’t turn this apartment into a fabulous pied-a-terre because the courtyard, although pretty, was only just so so and the apartment would always be dark. I had a little crush on this apartment , but no matter how hard I worked at it, I couldn’t turn it into the love of my life.

I haven’t give up and know that it’s out there, for sure!
Stay tuned for “Holy Moly, What a View” …

Tata!

A.