fantasy, in which tassel chandeliers, Napoleonic striped fabric, prints and shells rub shoulders. The result was an immediate success, and when her childhood friend Laurent de Gourcuff embarked on the transformation of Vaux-de-Cernay abbey into a hotel, it was only natural that he gave her a call. A colossal project that took some four years to complete. “The atmosphere is to some extent that of a chic English country house, English for the simple reason that the estate had once belonged to Charlotte de Rothschild who had married her English-born cousin Nathaniel!” Enriched by this formidable experience, Cordelia was subsequently entrusted with the renaissance of a Parisian institution, Laurent de Gourcuff and his Paris Society group’s Restaurant Laurent. “This time, I imagined somewhere that Proust and Monet could have shared a table.” The result has today made the Restaurant Laurent the place to be. Next, an even more iconic restaurant: Maxim’s. “When Laurent called me, however, I told him that I would take on the project on the condition that the décor would be unaltered and just refurbished.” A comment that says it all. Cordelia not only loves fabrics, prints, antique objects and poetic atmospheres with a story to tell, but above all she loves the past when it remains imbued with glamour. For her, it is out of the question to wipe the slate clean! “My credo is to respect where I am.” Take, for example, Raphael’s restaurant and bar in Paris, which she is in the process of giving a gentle facelift, or Ladurée’s original address in rue Royale. “I’m going to recreate an old bakery, as we would imagine it, and on the first floor, a boudoir featuring a reworked toile de Jouy.” Nothing stops her, everything is a source of enjoyment. Anyone surprised by her obvious ease probably doesn’t know that decoration is in the family DNA. Her mother, of Greek origin, was a decorator and Atalanta Politis, a childhood friend of Christina Onassis, designed all her houses for her. And as for Cordelia’s father, his great-uncle was the flamboyant Boni de Castellane who, thanks to the fortune of his wife Anna Gould, ordered the construction of the sumptuous Palais Rose during the Belle Epoque. He also lived at the Château de Rochecotte, bought by his brother-in- law, decorator Emilio Terry. Apples don’t fall far from the tree. •
Fantaisie colorée au Café Lapérouse.
Nouveau service de table Dior Rose d’hiver.
Pour le restaurant Laurent, Cordelia a imaginé un lieu qui aurait réuni Proust et Monet.
Chez Maxim’s, elle rafraîchit juste la décoration pour en sublimer le charme.
recréer une boulangerie ancienne, comme on la rêve, et au premier étage, un boudoir avec une toile de Jouy retravaillée. » Rien ne l’arrête, tout l’amuse. On pourrait s’étonner de cette aisance, mais c’est ne pas savoir que la décoration fait partie de l’ADN familial. D’origine grecque, sa mère était décoratrice. Amie d’enfance de Christina Onassis, Atalanta Politis lui
aménagea toutes ses maisons. Quant au père de Cordelia, son grand-oncle était le flamboyant Boni de Castellane qui fit construire le Palais Rose, grâce à la fortune de son épouse Anna Gould. Il vécut également au château de Rochecotte que racheta son beau-frère, le décorateur Emilio Terry. Bon sang ne saurait mentir. •
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