Ceramic artists Justine and Jean Hay de Slades’ rustic home and studio in France’s Haute Saintonge were years in the making. First, Justine had to establish her line of bone-white porcelain that she calls Epure—the exquisitely simple wares are what first caught our eye: see Made In a Barn in France.
Success enabled Jean to join the business in 2014: he oversees production. And recently the family bought a parcel of land with two decrepit 19th-century structures on it that enabled them to build their ideal live-work setup for themselves and their young daughter, Alma. “It’s a small wood house with many windows and a lot of light,” Justine tells us. “We don’t need or want a lot of space for living, but our atelier is twice the size, with limestone walls and old fireplaces.”
Not surprisingly, the color white pervades both buildings, along with a lot of handmade touches: Justine and Jean’s fingerprints are on every surface and if you look closely, you can also spot their cat’s paw prints memorialized in clay.
Photography by Jean Hay de Slade, courtesy of Epure.
The House
![justine and jean redesigned what had been a bake house dating from the early \1 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-home-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-1b-733x1100.jpg)
Haute Saintonge is in the Charente-Maritime, on the southwest coast of France between Bordeaux and Cognac. “It’s a place where you can breath,” says Justine, who, having formerly lived and worked in the same building, felt very ready for a division of labor.
![justine and jean did all of the design work—\2\2\1;with pencil on 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-home-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-6-733x1100.jpg)
The stove is a French-made Supra—it and two radiators (in Alma’s room and the bath) heat the whole house. The new floor is painted concrete.
![jean built the living room daybeds out of wood from the old roof, and the coupl 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-home-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-4a-733x1100.jpeg)
![jean incorporated an old door into his design for the kitchen china cupboard. 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-home-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-3-733x1079.jpg)
![the kitchen cabinets are redwood stained brown and detailed with tiles of white 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/kitchen-epure-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-8-733x1099.jpg)
![the couple say they were very happy when their cat left its prints on the kitch 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/kitchen-epure-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-9-733x1099.jpg)
![jean built the food cupboard from weathered old wood. the painted walls downsta 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-home-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-10-1-733x1100.jpeg)
![the kitchen table and door came from antiques shops. epure\2\17;s linen 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-home-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-7-733x1100.jpg)
![the bedrooms are paneled in pine boards salvaged from the roof and have wooden 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-bedroom-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-11-733x1100.jpeg)
![alma\2\17;s bed is a \1950s design passed down from her grandfather. the 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-bedroom-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-12-733x1141.jpg)
The Studio
![known as a charentaise, the early \19th century building pre dates the house an 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-1-733x489.jpg)
![justine and jean in their glazing room, newly plastered by justine\2\17; 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/justine-and-jean-hay-de-slate-in-the-epure-studio-haute-saintonge-france-1-733x1098.jpg)
![the couple make epure\2\17;s molds and package orders in a space that ha 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-3a-733x1100.jpg)
![justine and jean are currently developing a line of tableware for a local cogna 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-7-733x1100.jpg)
![jean pours liquid clay into a slip cast mold for a cup. epure is currently just 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-3b-733x972.jpg)
![justine glazes canele cups in front of a preserved old wall \2\20;like a 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-justine-lacoste-hay-de-slade-haute-saintonge-france-11-733x1099.jpg)
![alma loves to play in the office—\2\2\1;it\2\17;s her doll 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-4-733x1100.jpg)
![the mantel in justine\2\17;s office displays an epure collage. 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-5-733x1015.jpg)
![justine\2\17;s desk is a vintage table that she partly painted white, li 35](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/epure-ceramics-studio-haute-saintonge-france-6a-733x1100.jpg)
Follow Epure’s latest @epure.ceramique.
We are eternally inspired by artist’s quarters. Here are three more favorites:
- A Ceramic Artist’s Enviable Life on the Scottish Coast
- Living Above the Studio: At Home and Work with Lappalainen
- Hudson Valley Hues: At Home with an Inventive Textile Designer