{"id":2846,"date":"2025-05-25T00:53:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T16:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/2025\/05\/25\/atelier-vime-in-brittany-an-18th-century-childhood-home-lovingly-updated\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T00:53:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T16:53:23","slug":"atelier-vime-in-brittany-an-18th-century-childhood-home-lovingly-updated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homeofmaterials.com\/es\/atelier-vime-in-brittany-an-18th-century-childhood-home-lovingly-updated\/","title":{"rendered":"Atelier Vime en Breta\u00f1a: Una casa de infancia del siglo XVIII renovada con mimo"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Our story begins in the early 1960s with a hot tip in a doctor\u2019s office: \u201cMy father was a dentist in Paris and a patient told him to have a look at this little hamlet lost in the valley\u2014he had heard from his Breton family that the farmer wanted to sell,\u201d Beno\u00eet Rauzy tells us. The hamlet in question is near Audierne in Brittany, and the late 18th century compound became the Rauzy family summer retreat: Beno\u00eet has been making pilgrimages here since he was born.<\/p>\n

With his partner, Anthony Watson, Beno\u00eet is the owner of Atelier Vime, purveyor of France\u2019s loveliest rattan furniture, new and vintage. The two went into business on a whim in 2018 when they were remodeling a h\u00f4tel particulier in Provence\u2014after discovering it had been the headquarters of a once-thriving local rattan business that had all but vanished, they set up shop and learned along the way. Anthony and Beno\u00eet\u2019s home became a much-celebrated showcase for their creations, and they went on to restore the 18th-century house next door: it\u2019s now the Atelier Vime summer emporium.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, these historic house whisperers have also been resuscitating the Rauzy farm\u2014their work got jumpstarted during the pandemic when the couple stayed put in Brittany and did the labor themselves, from clearing brush to laying tiles. \u201cBeno\u00eet\u2019s family was surrounded by painters, sculptors, and poets who used the outbuildings as work spaces,\u201d says Anthony. \u201cThe place was untouched and still has many creations from these friends.\u201d The kitchen and bath required major work, but seeing these rooms now, you\u2019d never know: \u201cthe goal,\u201d says Beno\u00eet, \u201cwas to keep the atmosphere and poetry.\u201d Of course, there\u2019s now a lot more rattan in residence. Come see.<\/p>\n

Photography courtesy of Atelier Vime (@ateliervime).<\/p>\n


Above: The exterior of the whitewashed house was left as is with one touch-up: the shutters are newly painted Farrow & Ball\u2019s Hague Blue. The couple re-created Beno\u00eet\u2019s father\u2019s garden and planted a now-thriving field of a special thin wicker for use in their own designs. The backyard slopes down to the sea arm, the tidal Goyen River. <\/p>\n

When the family bought the property, this part of Brittany was \u201cnot so famous because it was a very long drive from Paris, they were no real estate agencies, and all of the the farms were still active,\u201d says Anthony. Beno\u00eet\u2019s parents were able to buy by word of mouth because the resident farmer was about to get married and move to his wife\u2019s nearby farm.<\/p>\n

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Above: Harvested wicker gets sorted in an old stable behind the main house. The cupboard is filled with Beno\u00eet and Anthony\u2019s collection of antique miniature baskets from all over France.
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Above: The house is the rustic counterpart to the couple\u2019s high-style place in Provence. Beno\u00eet\u2019s father, Jacques, restored the original hearth and added the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona table. It\u2019s now joined by recent additions, including an Andr\u00e9 Arbus Art Deco rug, and Atelier Vime Editions\u2019 Paquebot Armchair, LP Lamp, and Rattan Pelmet.
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Above: A prized possession is the green velvet nsofa that was designed by Jacques for his dental office: \u201cmy father used to design furniture himself when he couldn\u2019t find what he was looking for.\u201d It\u2019s Andalusian hound Alma\u2019s favorite place to lounge. The small print is by family friend Nina Nidermiller.
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Above: The kitchen retains its 1960s tiled floor and rustic buffet and table. Beno\u00eet and Anthony added the tiled backsplash and new sink  with a faucet from Italian brand Stella. Pieces from the couple\u2019s vintage rattan collection include the chairs, woven table lamp, and birdcages.,

Above: The Balineum tile is 18th century Italian. Anthony\u2019s mother helped him stitch the new sink skirt from ticking fabric found in the house. Botanical plates on the wall (shown in the previous photo) were more recently replaced by a rare set of 1920s Suzanne Creston plates with Breton nautical scenes. The rope lantern is a midcentury design.
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Above:  Ingredients for lobster ravioli: \u201cwe were trying to make them as delicious as the ones chef Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Claquin makes at our favorite restaurant, Les Trois Rochers, in nearby Combrit,\u201d says Anthony.
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Above: A tabletop vignette with a weathered oil cloth and the family faience.,

Above: The couple\u2019s bedroom\/study retains a basic bookshelf of wood and bricks built by Jacques and filled with family souvenirs. The pine bough is leftover from a DIY door surround that Beno\u00eet and Anthony put up during lockdown: see Pine Cones as Decor, our first glimpse of the house.
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Above: An antique Uzbek Suzani covers an Empire chair. In the 1960s, the bedroom doors were covered in the blue boat paint shown here.
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Above: The fireplace, foxed mirror, and tiled hearth are original. Beno\u00eet and Anthony bought the antique ceramic stove at an auction.
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Above: Beno\u00eet\u2019s childhood bedroom has a 1960s Italian rattan bed with a cover made from two antique Proven\u00e7al skirts.,

Above: The bureau was painted for one of Beno\u00eet\u2019s birthdays by Paule Fournel, another artist family friend. The painted lampshade is by American artist and frequent Atelier Vime collaborator Wayne Pate.
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Above: The bathroom makeover was the biggest project. Anthony and Beno\u00eet cut and fit the mosaic tile themselves and added the shower\u2014\u201dwe designed it very minimal as a circle,\u201d says Anthony. Note the new tub\u2019s Atelier Vime Editions\u2019 Wicker Panel and Rattan Pelmet\u2014all of the workshop\u2019s pieces are woven by hand in France and these two designs are made in custom sizes.
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Above: \u201cThe sink is Art Deco from the 1920s; we found it in a house nearby and matched it with a Stella faucet,\u201d says Anthony. The vintage hanging rope sconces are by Audoux Minet.
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Above: The Five Flowers curtain fabric is by American designer Drusus Tabor whose line is newly available at Schumacher.,

Above: The second floor is the attic, known as the reading room because it\u2019s filled with books. The four poster is draped with an antique Aubusson tapestry\u2014and, on occasion, is used by guests. The couple found the antique t\u00f4le bathtub at a brocante.
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Above: For outdoor feasts, a nearly 10-foot-long farm table is paired with 1950s Mathieu Mat\u00e9got chairs. An apple orchard surrounds the yard and the wicker field is just beyond.
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Above: A view of the house across the sea arm.
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Above: Beno\u00eet and Alma head to the beach. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been inspired by Atelier Vime since the company was founded:<\/p>\n