Designer Gesa Hansen and restaurateur Charles Compagnon met eight years ago in one of his Paris establishments. At the time, she was a single mother living a very urban life with her baby daughter—see A Scandi Furniture Designer’s Apartment on the Place de la République—and he was making a name for himself in the hospitality world (he currently owns three Paris restaurants, including Cafe Compagnon, the subject of 12 Ideas to Steal from a Gesa Hansen-Designed Cafe).
Gesa and Charles now live with their young family of five in an idyllic 19th century stone compound an hour south of Paris in Courances, a village with a moated château and famous garden near the forest of Fontainebleau—aka “the green lung of Paris.” Gesa and two creative friends, all former committed Parisians now living in the same rural vicinity, recently teamed up to produce Coming Home to Nature, a just-published book celebrating “the French art of countryfication.” In our July 4th Required Reading post, we featured Gesa and Charles’s garden party from the book. Today, we’ve moving inside to offer a look at the restaurant-inspired rustic kitchen and its surroundings, designed, of course, by Gesa.
Photography by Stephanie Füssenich and Nathalie Mohadjer, unless noted, courtesy of Flammarion and Gesa Hansen from Coming Home to Nature. Follow the book @countryfication.
![morning in the courtyard. gesa is a furniture and interior designer who comes f 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-home-courances-france-bellero-733x977.jpg)
![charles, romy, and finn prepare to make their homemade nutty granola (recipe on 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/charles-compagnon-and-kids-at-home-2-733x977.jpg)
![\2\20;since charles is used to restaurant kitchens, he always wants open 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-3-733x977.jpg)
The all-stainless range is by Smeg and has an induction cooktop—Charles initially wanted gas, she notes, but induction is much more energy-efficient not to mention better for the environment, and the latest models are now so high-functioning that all of Charles’s restaurants use induction. The backsplash tiles are zellige.
![the cabinets are solid oak designed by gesa in collaboration with cabinetmaker 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/charles-compagnon-and-kids-at-home-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-5-733x977.jpg)
The fridge is at the left end of the counter and the sink and dishwasher are opposite the stove.
![dowels under the open shelves provide extra storage for key items, including en 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-mugs-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-momomexicostudio-photo-jpg-733x916.jpg)
![gesa and emiliano made the room feel much more spacious by removing the dropped 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-4-733x1099.jpg)
![for pastry making, gesa inserted a counter section of rojo alicante, which she 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-cutting-boarsds-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-nmohadjer-photo-733x977.jpg)
![the pub table gets paired with another table for piling with produce and treats 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-momomexicostudio-9-733x916.jpg)
![inspired by a wall storage rack she spotted in a japanese kitchen, gesa enliste 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-courances-france-from-coming-home-to-nature-momomexicostudio-8-733x916.jpg)
![gesa hansen dining room courances france nmohadjer photo 9](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-dining-room-courances-france-nmohadjer-photo-9-733x977.jpg)
![the oak dining room and benches are a gesa design from her remix collection mad 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-kitchen-courances-france-10-733x1099.jpg)
![the foyer has its original stone floor and stucco walls—and a laid back 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/gesa-hansen-house-courances-france-nmohadjer-photo-11-733x977.jpg)
![at home, charles grows all of the herbs and roasts the coffee beans for his par 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/charles-compagnon-coffee-roasting-setup-courance-frances-romain-ricard-photo-22-733x1099.jpg)
Tour the rest of the house in our earlier feature Gesa Hansen’s Country Style: The Scandinavian-German Designer’s Family Quarters Outside of Paris.
More modern-country kitchen inspiration:
- Steal This Look: The Design-Minded Country Kitchen, Budget Edition
- Kitchen of the Week: English Country Charm in a NJ Suburb (Plus the Prettiest Pantry)
- Steal This Look: Rivertown Lodge’s Modern Country Kitchen in Hudson, New York
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