There are plenty of big-name Art Nouveau buildings in Paris, but there are quite a few less well-known ones, too, and often by less-well-known architects than the stars like Hector Guimard and Jules Lavirotte. This unusual building on Rue de la Pompe in the 16e is by Léon Alphonse Henri Lecourtois and was built in 1911.
It was built for the society florist Pierre Orève, who occupied the ground-floor shop and maintained greenhouses in the courtyard behind it. In an unusual move, Lecourtois ‘twisted’ the building to give residents in the apartments above a longer view of the street as well as making room for a winter garden above the ground floor.
The Art Nouveau facade, featuring—naturally—floral motifs gives way on the upper floors for more eclectic touches and maybe a few too many sculpted touches.
These days, the former florist shop has become a pricy restaurant, with an interior that maintains a bit of the original decor—but not much.
As you may be able to see from the title image, the building is in an interesting line-up: A quite well-done Art Deco building to the left, and a relatively featureless but restrained building from the 1960s on the other side.
