Bertrand Waldbillig and Michele Bulgherini, <br>Tobia

Family - Gordes

Near Gordes, in the Heart of the Luberon Massif, an architect-designed House From the 1970s Has Been Redesigned by Two Creative Minds

Bertrand Waldbillig and Michele Bulgherini,
Tobia

It stands lost amid the surrounding countryside, encircled by tall pine and olive trees with twisted trunks, grimacing oaks, lavender and wild thyme, like something out of a novel by Giono, Magnan or Pagnol. But the (beautiful) cliché ends there. Of course, the Luberon, its massif and its almost magical natural environment are there to enjoy. But Bertrand Waldbillig – a specialist 1970s dealer at the Saint-Ouen flea market – and Michele Bulgherini – creative director of a Parisian agency – fell in love at first sight with a 1974 architect-designed house. Forget the blue-shuttered Provencal farmhouse: welcome to the Parisian couple’s well-defined, elegant, artisanal and, above all, architectural taste. Here, wood, steel and plaster mingle with antique pieces and elements preserved from the old house to create genuine harmony. Like a story of heritage and respect. In which two different perspectives meet.

Bertrand, Michele, could you introduce yourselves, please?

Bertrand

This is my third career change, but I’m still very much involved in all the areas that fascinate me: classic cars, watchmaking and now 20^th-century decoration and furniture. There’s a clear common thread: beautiful objects, their history, and how they’re presented. My associate Clémence and I offer a wide selection of furniture and lighting from the 1940s to the 1980s at Serpette in the Saint-Ouen flea market. With a predilection for Italy in the 1970s, for example, the pair of Cornaro armchairs designed by Carlo Scarpa that we currently have on display.

Michele

I was born in Rome, and I studied art direction there. I arrived in Paris at the age of 23 and continued my career in a variety of agencies, mainly in the luxury sector. I’m now the creative director at Egon Paris, my friend Séverine Breton’s agency specialising in wine, spirits and lifestyle in general. My interests include contemporary dance, ancient and modern drawing, decorating and, of course, our dog Tobia.

How did your personal tastes develop?

Michele

It’s a family story, of course! When I was eight, I went to an auction with my father and grandfather. I was brought up with these compulsive purchases, this unbridled emotion. I was fascinated by the immediate gratification of desires. My taste is, above all, a specific interest in objects in the broadest sense, from coffee cups to huge paintings… In my case, it’s not a question of a specific taste for a particular period or medium; I like all sorts of things – whatever catches my eye. There’s no doubt about it: I’m a compulsive buyer.

Bertrand

My grandfather was a painter and awakened the artistic senses of almost the whole family. My grandmother, his wife, had little money but great taste. She had bought a small country house in Champagne, where I spent most of my holidays. He had to go with her to all the flea markets in the region to find bargains. In Paris, she could be found at the Saint-Pierre market. She had a real eye for decoration, colours and materials. She also taught me the basics of furniture restoration. That’s where it all started.

How have your tastes changed over the years?

Michele

For me, everything changed when I moved to Paris: I went from having a very busy Italian, even Roman, taste, all 18^th-century family furniture that was bordering on oppressive and absolutely everywhere, to… a furnished rented apartment! I had to find other types of furniture that were more practical, lighter and more functional. Then I met Bertrand, and I developed and refined my taste for the 20^th century. Alongside him, I learnt to recognise what is beautiful and rare, pretty but more common… and I developed a more critical and attentive eye.

Bertrand

For me, it’s a professional skill. At the Serpette market (in the Saint-Ouen flea market, editor’s note), we regularly look for rare, or at least interesting, items that you don’t see everywhere for our customers. Of course, that’s also what we want at home… Without making it into a statement and wanting to differentiate ourselves at all costs: there are some must-haves we love, and we don’t deny ourselves what we love! And working together on this house, our tastes have evolved towards harmony rather than accumulation. We like the pieces to interact with each other, to create a more coherent atmosphere, and to be fully integrated into their surroundings.

This was brought home to us by our immediate environment: here, the house is surrounded by natural countryside.

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Acheter

Bertrand, when we last met, we agreed to meet in six years’ time… What’s changed since then?

Bertrand

I’m still at the Saint-Ouen flea market, where I’ve since teamed up with my neighbour Clémence Saffar to set up the Inverno gallery. My ambitions have changed too! At the time, you were living in an apartment in the Haussmann style, with a fairly traditional layout and proportions. And here we are, in an architect-designed house dating from the 1970s. I still love the taste of that period, which is my favourite, but perhaps a bit less ‘bling’…

Michele

We’ve swapped brass for wood and steel.

Bertrand

Let’s just say that I still love the theatricality and fun of the 1970s. But now I prefer natural, organic shapes and materials. This was brought home to us by our immediate environment: here, the house is surrounded by natural countryside. I should also point out that my professional activity obviously influences me: in recent years, my customers’ tastes have evolved too. What’s important to me now is the material, the craftsmanship and the architectural side of the object. In fact, I’m crazy about architect-designed furniture. One final big difference in recent years is that I no longer find it hard to part with my acquisitions. The décor fluctuates, with furniture and artefacts moving from one room to another. I’m less attached to them than to the way they fit into their environment. And their lives don’t end here; they go on elsewhere.

You didn’t come from here originally. Why did you choose the Luberon?

Bertrand

We knew a bit about the region because we have friends locally. I also wanted to be closer to part of my family who had settled in Provence. Just for fun, I put out a fairly wide alert on property websites. This house was among the first responses I received.

Michele

It was pure chance!

Bertrand

It ticked all the boxes in terms of what we were ideally looking for – a house in an entirely natural environment, an architect-designed home from the 1970s, of course – absolutely my period!

Michele

We visited it one day in December, which isn’t ideal for a house in the south… But it was love at first sight! We walked through the door and immediately assumed it was ours.

Bertrand

Even so, we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into: the house was in its original state and very large compared to what we needed. But we were also looking for a house where we could entertain our friends and family…

Tell us about the house.

Bertrand

It was built as a second home in 1974 by Gottfried Silberbauer, a Parisian architect. A music lover surrounded by artist friends whose works and furniture adorned the interior, he and his wife were a very sociable couple with no children. We later found out from talking to neighbours that all the youngsters in the village had learnt to swim in the pool! The house is very well designed: in harmony with its surroundings, perfectly planned from the point of view of aspect, very pleasant to live in whatever the season… First, there’s the northern entrance, with a large stone wall that is very architectural and almost inhospitable. But when you step inside, you discover that all the living areas are connected and also enjoy the panoramic view of the Luberon massif. The house is built in a terraced style, with the lower part buried to create a natural air-conditioning system: this is where we spend our summers. We haven’t touched the structure, the circulation between rooms or their layout. Every part of the old layout has been preserved: the office, bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, living room, and so on. The place is very pleasant to live in and very modern: each bedroom has its own bathroom and is comfortable to spend time in every day, and the communal areas are easy to get on with.

How did you design your interior?

Bertrand

We tried to recreate an atmosphere that was fairly faithful to what the previous owners had envisaged. One little story illustrates our approach quite well: a weaver whose name I knew through my work, Daniel Drouin, moved to the region in the 1970s after having worked at the Gobelins in Paris. He’s worked for some of the greatest names in art, including Calder. He began creating tapestries from his own cartoons in Gordes and then in Venasque. Somewhat by chance, on one of our walks in the region, we came across a sign pointing to his studio. Talking to his wife, we discovered that the previous owners had commissioned a made-to-measure tapestry for the living room. Inspired by a photograph the couple had found, we went hunting at auction and found a tapestry by Daniel Drouin from the same period in colours we liked.

Michele

We kept everything that could be kept: the old tiles that we found in the workshop and that used to extend the walls in the kitchen, the shutters on the windows still in place, the railing around the swimming pool, open to the countryside, the floor throughout the house, the fireplace… The list goes on and on. The idea is to avoid creating a contrast between “new” and “old”. On the contrary, we decided not to touch the existing structure, the spirit of the house. But just to extend, touch up and update.

Bertrand

For a house built in the 1970s, the choices made at the time are still very relevant today. The bathrooms, for example, are all tiled in white earthenware, whereas the colours were very bright and dated at that time. As for the rest, it all blends in. Michele is very keen on works of art, and I pick up a lot of furniture… But there are no rules.

Michele

We don’t really have a defined taste… It fluctuates. It’s a mixture: some objects have been here for a very long time, others are acquired on a whim, and sometimes pieces become part of our interior after a long period of reflection… A home comes together over time.

What’s important to me now is the material, the craftsmanship and the architectural side of the object. In fact, I’m crazy about architect-designed furniture.

Nature is the star here.

Bertrand

Precisely. In fact, it’s overtaken interior design. The Provençal writer Pierre Magnan, a native of Manosque, described himself like this: “Lives with his wife in Haute-Provence in a dovecote on three very narrow levels but overlooking a breathtaking view. The cramped conditions of his home oblige him to be extremely selective about his books, his furniture and his friends. He loves walks alone or in groups, animals, conversations with his friends in the Basses-Alpes and contemplating his surroundings.” Our house is designed in much the same way: open to nature, an environment that invites contemplation. Gardening has taken on as much importance in our lives as decoration! We spend a lot of our time outside.

Michele

We’ve opted for irrigation-free gardening, using local species. The former owners had planted a lot of trees. All we’ve brought in are local varieties, which we take from the countryside around us and replant to give a natural effect that meets today’s requirements in terms of energy savings and respect for the environment.

Bertrand

From a decorative point of view, the pool, for example, mirrors the natural surroundings. We wanted it to be grey-green, to blend in with the green and white oaks, pines and olive trees. We’re fortunate to live in the Luberon, which is an open-air garden in itself. Our garden is simply an extension of its natural environment.

If you had to tell us about one place in the house, it would be…

Bertrand

The terrace. Which is an extension of the living room. It offers uninterrupted views of the Luberon massif and is not overlooked. It’s the place in the house where we spend most of our time, whatever the season, and where we can best appreciate our surroundings and the changing seasons. The floor, which is the same throughout the house – Artois sandstone – is very 1970s and didn’t necessarily suit our tastes, but we’ve learned to live with it and appreciate it. We realised that both the material and the colour were perfectly suited to this location.

Michele

The fireplace in the living room! It’s the starting point for decorating the home and also its nerve centre. Everything revolves around it, from the décor to everyday life. Originally, we wanted to change a lot of things, particularly the fireplace, which we felt was more in the spirit of Valentine Schlegel. But then, as we lived in the house, and particularly during the successive lockdowns, we realised that very little needed to be changed. So all we did was freshen it up, and it’s one of the elements that really sets the tone for the rest of the interior and our daily lives.

How do you feel about The Socialite Family?

Michele

Behind the term “family” lies the broader issue of living, of the life hidden within a house. It’s not just a question of decoration and stylistic choices; what makes the difference, what gives life to spaces, is the people who live in them. Decoration choices are a reflection of the soul, of a presence. The Socialite Family is all about bringing decoration to life.

Bertrand

I’d add that it’s also about how people take ownership of their interiors, far from the diktats imposed by fashion and by magazines showing places that always look empty. We often wonder if anyone really lives there. When you look at an interior on The Socialite Family, you can see straight away that these are places that people have truly made their own.

If you had to choose one piece from the collection for yourselves, what would it be?

Bertrand

The Carlotta pedestal table and coffee table, one of the first pieces in the collection, I believe. It matches the style of furniture we love: elegant, with 1970s accents and high-quality materials like lacquer and marble. In the latest collection, we also really liked the Renato headboard in burr elm, which reflects our current mood: natural materials and simple shapes with a very seventies touch of sophistication.

Do you have any favourite places locally you’d be willing to share with us?

Bertrand et Michele

We’re lucky enough to be just a stone’s throw from L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, where we regularly go bargain hunting. It’s the same at the Carpentras flea market on Sunday mornings, where we meet up with our local antique dealer friends. Appy, the nursery in Roussillon, is a must for all gardeners in the Luberon. And, for the past few months, its Appy Corner space has been showcasing beautiful vintage pieces. And Le Progrès café in Ménerbes. A bar tabac with a terrace offering a magnificent view of the Monts de Vaucluse and inventive cuisine worthy of a gourmet restaurant!

The idea is to avoid creating a contrast between “new” and “old”. On the contrary, we decided not to touch the existing structure, the spirit of the house.

Photography : Jeanne Perrotte – Text : Elsa Cau @thesocialitefamily

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