Vitra Home Stories: Adeline and Florent Maillet enjoy simple life in the French countryside

Vitra HAL lounge chair w/ loose cushion — The Maillet family and their animals live a country life in a modern home. The HAL lounge chair was designed by Jasper Morrison.

This winter, the Swiss brand Vitra invites us to take a look behind the doors of three homes, all as different as their residents. In this story, we meet the family of Adeline and Florent Maillet, who left the city to build their ideal home in touch with nature.

Edit: Nora Uotila

Residents:

Adeline Maillet is an interior stylist, and her husband Florent is a farmer. The couple lives with their two children and animals in a wooden eco-house on their family’s farm near Lyon, France.

Adeline and Florent Maillet with their children — “Our life is dictated by cycles, not by speed. We are trying to find our own rhythm. By reviving the farm, we aim to weave a thread between the great-grandparents and the grandchildren.”

“WHEN WE TOOK OVER our family farm about 15 years ago, we had lived in the city for about ten years and thought: ‘If we move out of the city, we have to build the house we always dreamt of.’

We wanted a house that fits into the landscape, that does not distort its surroundings – nature, the fields. We wanted it to be on a human scale. To us an ideal house is a simple house. No frills. Who needs six bedrooms, four floors? We have a wood stove that warms the body and the heart.

Vitra HAL chairs and Plate table — The dining area is furnished with Jasper Morrison’s Plate dining table and Soft Wood chairs from the HAL collection. The Cork Family stools are also by Morrison.

Vitra Allstar office chair. — Whenever needed, the dining area turns into a home office with the help of Konstantin Grcic’s Allstar office chair and Locker Box.

Vitra Locker Box RE, brick — The Locker Box was designed for storing and carrying laptops and other accessories from one place to another.

A home is a place where we feel free, inside and out. We have space, we have light, we have peace. We made sure there are large windows and lots of plants. We feel that nature is what really decorates this house. The light changes with the seasons.

“A home is a place where we feel free, inside and out.”

Every morning when we get up, we always take five minutes to look outside. We stand in front of the window and gaze out at the trees. This view is the most beautiful screen.

Vitra Slow Chair, brown/cream - aluminium — The lounging area features Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s lightweight Slow lounge chair with Jean Prouvé’s Guéridon Bas table and Hella Jongerius’ Polder sofa.

Once spring arrives, we’re always outside – with our hands in the earth, pruning trees, mowing the lawn. In the winter, we’re indoors by the fire. During the spring, we collect wood, which we cut for the next winter. Slow life, slow food are trendy expressions. For us it is not a trend. It’s our life.

We plant hedges and trees, we have animals, which are now 10 or 15 years old. The traces of our elders are visible every day, in the landscape, in the walls that have been built, in the shape of the plots, in the fruit trees they planted.

Vitra Eames Elephant — The adorable Eames Elephant from 1945 is accompanied by George Nelson’s Ball Clock, Alexander Girard’s Wooden dolls and Jean Prouvé’s Tabouret Solvay stool.

Vitra Vases Découpage, Boucle — Vitra’s ceramic Boucle vase is part of the Vases Découpage collection, designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

When choosing furniture, we like things that have a past and evoke emotion. We like wooden furniture. Wood comforts. We’re not interested in decoration for decoration’s sake.

We want things that are of quality, which we can pass on to our children.”