At KOTUR, flowers, gardens and all things botanical are constant sources of inspiration. As seen in our embellished Espeys, Jardines sandals and this summer’s Morley, a minaudiére literally festooned in flowers, the wonderful world of flora informs many a design of ours. And so it follows that we are more than a just a little bit fond of a beautiful gardening book. One published by Rizzoli last month has just come to our attention. Private Gardens of Paris takes a sneak peek behind the doors, over the walls and through the shutters of some of the city’s most glamorous residences and into the gardens beyond them, revealing an almost unimaginably verdant and sumptuous world of greenery and flowers as it goes.
Be they grand and sweeping or perfectly formed little bijoux wonders, the gardens selected for this book are each as lovely as the last. Leafing through, you may find yourself in the secret courtyard of a convent, in a garden filled with wrought iron fences and tumbling roses accessed through the shuttered French doors of the perfectly Parisian building that conceals it. Or turn to its pages to stroll through the surprisingly cozy garden of Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Bergé, an urban hideaway styled like a country kitchen garden that comes complete with a greenhouse. The classical landscaping of Hubert de Givenchy’s private paradise, a landscaped jardin of large proportions filled with iceberg roses and box hedges is to be found tucked away behind his 18th Century mansion and the hustle and bustle of Fauberg Saint Germain. Meanwhile, Kenzo’s private oasis takes the shape of a formal Japanese garden complete with carp filled river and Japanese flowers and trees and seems a million miles away from the center of France’s first city. Be they big or bijoux, perfectly planned or wonderfully undone, the Private Gardens of Paris revealed in this book give a glimpse into a secret world we couldn’t really have imagined. A beautiful book that’s full of surprises, this walk through some of Paris’s most special spots is utterly beguiling.
Private Gardens of Paris by Alexandra d’Arnoux, Bruno De Laubadère is published by Rizzoli
Photo courtesy of http://tribumagazine.com/private-gardens-of-paris/