Erwan Bouroullec’s country house: a manifesto on a new kind of design

When talking Erwan Bouroullec, one of his generation’s most influential designers, the conversation is always rich and meeting him offers two intriguing paths. One option is to discuss the renovation of his country house in Burgundy in the traditional sense – a revival of an old, disused farmhouse. The other is to explore the ideas and activities that this project has inspired, delving into architecture, but also into the act of building, and, above all, design itself.
We choose the latter path, which is rich in insights into both the hands-on, collaborative nature of creative work and the process of design itself, which moves forward, elevates and proceeds with pauses, intuition, and collective craftsmanship, all while navigating the delicate balance of form, gesture, and material.

“Right now, I feel like I’m able to work in a purer way. I’m very happy to make a chair, just like I am very happy to make a table. In a sense, I find less need to step outside the box or to overly distort established typologies,” Bouroullec confides from his Paris studio, where he relocated about a year ago after closing the studio he ran with his brother Ronan for 25 years.

For Bouroullec, this focus on “degree zero” goes hand in hand with liberating design from external pressures – sometimes even by “stopping thinking,” in a kind of meditative practice that he himself mentions and trusts the elements to emerge and assert themselves naturally. “Design is particular process because, contrary to other practices, once you begin, you don’t need to add anything more. Instead, you must keep taking away. At that point, many questions always arise, and one must patiently wait and embrace the collective dimension,” he explains.

Bouroullec is no stranger to country life. As the grandson of farmers, he grew up in his native Brittany immersed in the rhythms and laborious practices of working the land and raising livestock. Perhaps because of that background, the qualities and atmospheres he describes when speaking of his home in Burgundy are neither bucolic nor ostentatious. Nor do they merely evoke the idea of yet another idyllic sanctuary shielded from urban chaos – a recurring, even trendy, theme today, but one that would be secondary and reductive in this context. Instead, it is this approach of subtraction, placing trust in the project’s spontaneous brilliance, that most authentically reflects the spirit of renewal of this place.

Erwan Bouroullec

Bouroullec is no stranger to country life. As the grandson of farmers, he grew up in his native Brittany immersed in the rhythms and laborious practices of working the land and raising livestock. Perhaps because of that background, the qualities and atmospheres he describes when speaking of his home in Burgundy are neither bucolic nor ostentatious. Nor do they merely evoke the idea of yet another idyllic sanctuary shielded from urban chaos – a recurring, even trendy, theme today, but one that would be secondary and reductive in this context. Instead, it is this approach of subtraction, placing trust in the project’s spontaneous brilliance, that most authentically reflects the spirit of renewal of this place. Perched on a hillside providing with the environmental excellence that are the sweeping views of the surrounding countryside, the old farmhouse was only partially abandoned when it was acquired. A nearby factory building, once devoted to agricultural production, had lain unused for decades. Nearby, even though along the slope, the complex is rounded out by two additional structures: an old dwelling on one side and a canopy-covered area on the other.

The renovation was entrusted to the architectural firm LVA, with Bouroullec collaborating closely with the team. Together, the architects and their patron chose to focus on reorganizing the building’s structure, limiting demolitions – and saving effort – to only the few unnecessary additions that had accumulated over time. Charlotte Vuarnesson, co-founder of LVA with Guillaume Le Dévéhat, explains the work carried out on site: “We exposed the building’s main structure and created openings to internally connect the different parts of the complex, which are the house, the old warehouse – now transformed into a studio – and the shed that was once used to store hay.\”

After the initial planning, an unexpected dynamic took hold. This is what happened: Bouroullec and Vuarnesson began taking the time to observe the carpenter and mason as they worked on the roofs and facades – a form of quieting the mind or meditation, if you will. The workers’ careful and sensitive gestures were recognized as a form of savoir-faire to be embraced – an approach that transcended mere vernacular tradition and instead followed a logic of precise balance, in tune with history and its deeply local sense of proportion and utility. 

Vuarnesson recalls: “Something entirely new emerged, both for the workers and for us. Erwan and I realized how their craftsmanship elevated the material, the irregularities, the very structure of things. With no specific expectations, we chose to enhance their gestures.” Less rigidly rational and only seemingly illogical, this approach ultimately led to a deeply tangible architectural experience. The most striking outcome is the refined, almost tailored texture of the exposed stonework, which creates a sensory contrast with the pine wood – another key material in this project – and the purely contemporary element of sage-green laminate panels in the interiors.

Vuarnesson recalls: “Something entirely new emerged, both for the workers and for us. Erwan and I realized how their craftsmanship elevated the material, the irregularities, the very structure of things. With no specific expectations, we chose to enhance their gestures.” Less rigidly rational and only seemingly illogical, this approach ultimately led to a deeply tangible architectural experience. The most striking outcome is the refined, almost tailored texture of the exposed stonework, which creates a sensory contrast with the pine wood – another key material in this project – and the purely contemporary element of sage-green laminate panels in the interiors.

Charlotte Vuarnesson, co-founder of LVA

Regarding the furnishings of the different rooms, we are far from the typical showiness of “designer” homes. Instead, the furniture and objects are deliberately unpretentious, engaging with the space in a subtle, unforced manner. Only the beds – “containing structures” created following Bouroullec ‘s design – were custom-made for the bedrooms. 

The greatest comfort, beyond the joy of sociability, comes from the senses, continuously stimulated by large windows that frame the surrounding exterior, as if they were pictures of landscape, and the carefully managed thermal insulation that ensures a maximum comfort according to the specific spaces: a cozy atmosphere in the living spaces during the winter, in order to create opportunities, and a cooler, more deliberate ambiance in the studio. Outside, the garden appears to embrace a wildness, seeking a balance between human presence and nature. It forms a varied continuum, where the degree of cultivation shifts in relation to its proximity to the house – once again evoking a kind of “degree zero,” where nature is free to find its own authentic expression within these different boundaries.