Millstone house in Suresnes
This is the story of a millstone house built in Suresnes in 1955.
The new owners, a family with two children, wanted to raise the house by one floor.
Millstone houses are protected in this area.
For this project the architects of the French buildings asked to keep the millstone on the facade and to raise it with the same material. We then get a contemporary house in millstone, traces of the past in response to the needs of the present.
The new program is as follows: 1 living room, 1 dining room, 1 kitchen, 1 laundry room, 1 garage, 4 bedrooms, 3 with mezzanines, 3 bathrooms and 2 separate toilets.
The five levels to be distributed have different ceiling heights and revolve around the main staircase. Some spaces are very open, others more closed, which leads to a play of subtle views throughout the course.
The living room on the ground floor in double height communicates with the dining room located on the first floor to give a space crossing south/north. A very large bay generously opens the north façade onto the garden. The discreet kitchen on the first floor communicates with the living room through a large window positioned in the double height.
On the second floor the three bedrooms have large mezzanines allowing a more intimate night space.
To highlight the rehabilitation of this house and give a contemporary reading of the millstone facades, some details have been added. A new zinc roof replaces the old red mechanical tile roof and the gutters have been replaced by recessed channels. Some concrete lintels of the old façade have been preserved as a vestige in the façade.
To highlight the creation of the new openings in the raised floor, their lintels were covered with millstone to give a clearer reading. The paintings of the new openings have been coated to conceal the millstone from the interior spaces of the house. The exterior joinery is made of natural anodized aluminium.
