Architecture Wednesday: From Stable to Tiny House

In 1850, this apartment was nothing more than a small stable at the end of a typical Parisian paved courtyard overlooking Boulevard Garibaldi. It had a tiled roof supported by an oak framework with a hayloft on the first floor.

At that time, the Boulevard Garibaldi was the rampart between the city of Paris and the beginning of the city of Issy. Between 1853 and 1870, the boulevard was built and the stable was incorporated into a Haussmanian building facing the boulevard. With the disappearance of the horses and the appearance of the metro, a façade was created and the stable became a small apartment.

In 2024, the apartment underwent a complete renovation. Everything was transformed and renovated. Curves are an integral part of this achievement; they hug the existing walls and facades and link the spaces together.

The main space is one room with an angled wall and windows open to the street; a small living and dining area fills that nook with a nice modern kitchen at the other end. It is a small space, clearly, but the high ceilings and unused attic space allowed for the creation of an additional level for a sleeping loft linked to the main floor by a custom-made curved staircase.

The project gives full place to natural materials and traditional techniques to give a second breath of life to the building: a crawl space regulates the humidity of the ground; the oak framework was repaired, lightened, and sanded; and the stone walls were plastered with a mixture of natural lime and pigments. The brick façade walls are insulated from the outside with wood fiber and a lime-hemp plaster is sprayed on the inside.

It's not for me, because that small living area would drive me crazy, but I love the rest of it … perhaps if I could bust through the space next door and add a few feet to the living room?

Dwell