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"H\u00E9l\u00E8ne Rochas's House in Paris\nAs her collection is auctioned at Christie's, we revisit the late fashion CEO's Paris home, published in our April 1984 issue.\n\"I can't stop dreaming of making things more beautiful, more elegant\u2014I can't resist changing a pumpkin into a coach, \" says H\u00E9l\u00E8ne Rochas, guiding light of the Paris-based perfume and cosmetics company that bears her name.\nThe private garden\u2014a rarity in Paris.\nAll is symmetrical and congruous in the entrance hall. Flanking a 19th-century neoclassical-style bench is a pair of 17th-century porphyry urns supported by antique English columns.\nArt Deco pieces\u2014two Edgar Brandt snake lamps and a rug designed by Ren\u00E9 Crevel\u2014harmonize with Mme Rochas's neoclassical furnishings in the grand salon. Her interest in the Empire period was sparked by decorator Georges Geoffroy, a friend of her late husband, Marcel Rochas. Early in their marriage, M. and Mme Rochas acquired the marble and bronze gueridon, which had belonged to the Murat family.\nMme Rochas places chairs and tables about the periphery of a small salon, in the European tradition, so that guests can move the furniture to suit the conversation. Here, as in the grand salon, modern elements meld with neoclassical pieces. The painting above the fireplace is Fernand L\u00E9ger's 1925 L'Aviateur. On the gueridon is a ceramic work by Picasso.\nIn another view of this salon, an 18th-century Chinese lacquer cabinet commands attention. Above it is an Anthropom\u00E9try from a series by Yves Klein. Other paintings (left to right) are by Kurt Schwitters, 1922 and 1928 respectively, and Kazimir Malevich, 1914. Vases by Jean Dunand, 1910, are under the cabinet; vases by Jean Luce, 1925, are on top. Silk by Zumsteg.\nH\u00E9l\u00E8ne Rochas's quest for quality is apparent in another small salon. The drawing at left is by L\u00E9ger, the wall sculpture by Jean Lambert-Rucki. Near the doorway is an 18th-century wine cooler.\nAbove the dining room mantel and door, trompe l'oeil panels by Victor Serebriakoff challenge the viewer's eye. Unusually high-backed Louis XV chairs and an imposing Empire-style chandelier offer further diversions. The painting is by Fran\u00E7ois-Louis Schmied. A George III tureen adorns the 19th-century pedestal table.\nIn the music room, sound keeps company with visual delights. Artworks include paintings by Alexandra Exter (above the sofa) and Jean H\u00E9lion (over fireplace). Portraits of Mme Rochas by Warhol (left) and Fabio Rieti (right). Art Deco furnishings by \u00C9mile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Eileen Gray.\nMementos\u2014travel books, toys, and photographs\u2014alluding to a sentimental facet of H\u00E9l\u00E8ne Rochas's personality mingle with pleasures of the present in her sunny bedroom. The delicate floral chintz draping the French doors and the 19th-century lit \u00E0 la polonaise brings the garden indoors. On the round antique Chinese export table is an early-19th-century Russian perfume burner, one of many br\u00FBle parfums throughout the house. The painting is by Ernest-Ange Duez.\nA serious boudoir for a woman who takes things of the boudoir seriously. The dressing table and stool are by Ruhlmann, the lacquered screen by Dunand, all circa 1925.\nH\u00E9l\u00E8ne Rochas's house is located in one of the more aristocratic Paris neighborhoods, where owls still hoot in the private garden at night."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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