Inside The Homes That Defined Saint Laurent’s Legacy

Rue de Babylone: Deco Grand

The Paris apartment on Rue de Babylone, acquired in 1970, was a testament to Saint Laurent’s talent for blending art, history, and glamour. Encased in Art Deco wood paneling designed by Jean-Michel Frank in the 1920s, it was a daring departure from the sterile minimalism of the decade. The rooms featured an eclectic mix: Brancusi sculptures alongside Goya portraits, with every object precisely placed to create a seamless interplay of eras and styles.

Saint Laurent’s meticulous nature extended to every corner of the space. The scent of lilies and ivy suffused the air, while lighting was painstakingly adjusted to flatter both the room and its guests. Even the arrangement of logs in the fireplace adhered to his exacting vision. “It was sensual, chaotic, and utterly Saint Laurent,” Catroux reflected, underscoring how the apartment embodied the designer’s layered approach to life and art.

Writer Marian McEvoy described it as “one of the sexiest places I’ve ever been,” a space where textures invited touch, colors evoked appetite, and light seemed to worship its inhabitants. The apartment’s allure lay not just in its visual impact but in its ability to envelop you completely—a reflection of Saint Laurent’s genius for creating immersive worlds.

Château Gabriel: A Proustian Retreat

Saint Laurent’s Normandy home, Château Gabriel, was a deeply romantic ode to the 19th century. Infused with his love of Marcel Proust’s work, each bedroom bore the name of a character from In Search of Lost Time, inviting visitors into a world of literary reverie. Pierre Bergé, reflecting on Saint Laurent’s relationship with the past, noted, “For someone so attuned to his era, Yves had an uncanny ability to protect himself within the dreams he created.”

Garden designer Louis Benech specifically created spaces that would appeal to multiple senses, acknowledging Saint Laurent's declining vision. The garden featured fragrant plants like Rhododendron viscosum, late-blooming lis, and the rose 'Madame Isaac Pereire' near doorways. The property also included the whimsical dacha, inspired by Russian palaces following a trip to the USSR.

Villa Oasis: A Moroccan Muse

For Saint Laurent, Villa Oasis in Marrakech was an emotional return to his roots in French Algeria and an escape from the pressures of Paris. Nestled in the Jardin Majorelle—a lush garden he and Bergé famously saved from destruction—the villa offered a kaleidoscope of influences. Art Deco elegance met Moroccan craftsmanship, while the main salon’s vivid hues evoked Matisse’s bold color palettes.

The villa wasn’t just a home; it was a retreat where time could move differently. Before the ubiquity of telephones, communication relied on messengers, and the music room often came alive with spontaneous performances. Catroux, remarking on Saint Laurent’s profound connection to the space said, “Paris is the mirror of anxieties. Marrakech is where Yves found happiness.”

In The Minzah, the top floor of the villa, Saint Laurent worked at a small desk once owned by Madeleine Vionnet, sketching designs that would define collections. The villa’s layered design, which drew from Orientalism and local artistry, served as an “inexhaustible source of inspiration” for the designer.

A Legacy of Living Art

Saint Laurent and Bergé were among the first to reveal their private worlds to interior design magazines, redefining how a home could function as a reflection of identity and creative ethos. These homes weren’t just backdrops—they were living, breathing works of art, charged with history, intimacy, and imagination.

Betty Catroux once said of Saint Laurent, “He created beauty in every moment.” Nowhere was that more evident than in the spaces he shared with Bergé. Decades later, their homes remain a masterclass in the power of personal expression, and a lasting reminder that true style transcends time.