Leseine Frères French Villas Journal — Architecture Nouvelle Belle Époque 19th-Century Plates

In the second half of the 19th century, the suburbs of Paris were being invented. The railway had made it possible to live in Colombes or Enghien-les-Bains and work in the city, and a new class of bourgeois homeowners — merchants, professionals, civil servants — was commissioning villas that expressed their aspirations: comfortable, well-crafted, beautiful, and rooted in the historical traditions of French architecture. Into this world came Paul and Albert Leseine, brothers and architects whose work in the Parisian suburbs united neo-medieval grandeur with a progressive conviction that beautiful architecture should be available to everyone — not just the aristocracy, not just the very wealthy, but the schoolteacher and the notary and the small businessman who wanted to live well and live beautifully in the new suburban France.

The front cover features the Petit Hôtel à Colombes, designed by the Leseine Frères for Mr. Pigache and published in Architecture Nouvelle — a charming villa that exemplifies their philosophy of “grand confort à prix réduit”: ornate brickwork, a prominent corner tower with pointed roof, and a harmonious mix of brick, glazed tiles, and wood that gives the building its distinctive neo-medieval character, rendered with the precision and clarity of 19th-century architectural draughtsmanship. The back cover features the Hôtel de M. Decary, also in Colombes, Plate 66 from Architecture Nouvelle — another testament to the Leseine brothers’ ability to combine historical grandeur with modern livability, its richly articulated façade drawing on medieval and Gothic sources in the progressive suburban tradition that made the Parisian banlieue one of the great architectural laboratories of the Belle Époque.

Product Details

• Format: 5.5 × 8.5 inches (14 × 21.6 cm)
• Pages: 150 lined perforated pages (75 sheets)
• Binding: Casewrap sewn — lays flat, flexes for comfortable writing
• Cover: Matte laminated full-wrap, Leseine Frères architectural plates from Architecture Nouvelle — Petit Hôtel à Colombes & Hôtel de M. Decary, Colombes
• Weight: 0.1 kg

Perfect For

• Architects, interior designers, and urban planners inspired by the progressive vision of the Leseine Frères and Belle Époque French villa design
• French architecture enthusiasts and heritage lovers drawn to the neo-medieval grandeur of 19th-century Parisian suburban villas
• Francophiles and lovers of historic European homes celebrating the Architecture Nouvelle tradition
• Students and educators of 19th-century architectural history and the development of the French banlieue
• Thoughtful gift seekers looking for a beautifully designed journal for architects, designers, and lovers of French architectural heritage
• Anyone captivated by the Belle Époque ideal that beautiful, well-crafted architecture should be available to everyone

Read more: Beauty for Everyone: Paul and Albert Leseine and the Progressive Architecture of the Parisian Suburbs