The World of Atelier Vime: A New Book on the French Style House

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Ten years ago, Anthony Watson and Benoît Rauzy bought an 18th-century town house on the Rhône River in the Provençal village of Vallabrègues. The discovery that their place once figured in a flourishing-but-now-nearly-extinct local wicker industry led the couple in a surprise direction. Without expertise or a business plan—Watson was formerly a stylist and Rauzy an energy-use consultant—the two launched Atelier Vime, devoted to making high-style wicker furnishings from Rhône reeds and to offering choice examples from the past.

Watson and Rauzy also went on to produce exquisite settings for their creations: their newly shored-up Vallabrègues base served as the initial showcase for Atelier Vime—see Rattan Revival—and was so well-received that they acquired the 18th century house next door and turned it into France’s loveliest summer emporium. In recent years, they’ve also revived a Normandy farmhouse and Rauzy’s family compound in Brittany.

Their wickerwork and historic house renovations are celebrated in The World of Atelier Vime, a new book available in French and English editions. It includes the duo’s Paris quarters, which was Rauzy’s childhood home. He and Watson have masterfully preserved its many highlights while also adding their own imprint—and no shortage of wicker.

Photography by Anthony Watson and Yvan Moreau, as credited, all courtesy of Flammarion.

rauzy&#8\2\17;s father, an art loving dentist, moved into the top floor dup 17 — Above: Rauzy’s father, an art-loving dentist, moved into the top-floor duplex in Saint-Germain-des-Près in 1953 when it was a bohemian enclave, and Rauzy grew up with visiting artists staying and working in their attic. Atelier Vime Edition’s signature Medici Vase and Pedestal now stands in the entry of the early 18th century building.

Rauzy and Watson create Vime’s original designs with their friend Raphaëlle Hanley and they work with French artisans. “There were 15,000 basketmakers working in the 1950s [in France], while today there are only around 100,” writes Rauzy bemoaning the loss of skills and culture. “Our designs have shaken up an industry that is mainly focused on creating baskets for practical uses, and they often push craftspeople to the limits of their expertise.” Photograph by Anthony Watson.

a pair of \1940s &#8\2\20;africanist&#8\2\2\1; wicker and forged metal 18 — Above: A pair of 1940s “Africanist” wicker and forged metal chairs flank a display of art, pottery, and an Audoux-Minnet table lamp from the 1950s—fanciful vintage rope lighting is another Atelier Vime specialty. Notes Rauzy:”Wicker, rattan, straw, and rope are materials that all the great designers of the 20th century—from Charlotte Perriand to Gio Ponti—used and celebrated.”

Like his father, Rauzy is a devoted art collector; he focuses on work from the 1910s to the 1930s, but also has contemporary favorites, including American artist Wayne Pate, whose geometric painting hangs in the lower left. Photograph by Yvan Moreau.