Michael Bruno, founder of
1stdibs.com—a trailblazing decorative arts cyber marketplace that has grown
faster than McMansions in Orange County—is used to thinking on his feet while
personally vetting the 500-plus antiques dealers spread over 12 cities on two
continents that currently comprise his website. It is no surprise, then, that he
furnished his Paris pied-à-terre with decisive authority. "It was basically a
giant shopping spree, where I bought whatever I liked and hoped it would work
together," Bruno says.
Bruno’s apartment in the sixth arrondissement, which he bought
in 2000, shortly before launching 1stdibs.com, serves as a reminder of the
eureka moment that catalyzed the company. After a lucrative run in San Francisco
real estate in the late ’90s, Bruno moved to Paris to refuel. After visiting the
flea markets, he realized that Paris was a moveable feast of furniture and
decorative objects from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Save for a handful of
pieces shipped from San Francisco, his apartment is filled with local finds from
dealers who would subsequently become his business’ French core. "I came down
with a violent case of flea marketitis," he recalls, explaining how he was
bowled over by the wealth of choices, which inspired him to start his business.
Although Bruno now spends the bulk of his time in New York, his Paris apartment
serves as his European hub.
 While furnishing his Paris apartment with finds from local
antiques shops, Michael Bruno was inspired to start 1stdibs.com, a global
website linking hundreds of antiques dealers. Bruno’s living room, which
contains his favorite pieces, overlooks a bright, leafy courtyard and the
steeple of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. (Click image to enlarge)
A side table by Maison Ramsay and
nesting tables by René Prou—all from the 1940s—make up some of the treasures in
Bruno’s personal trove. Two
Jansen tables from the same period were also
incorporated into the apartment’s decor to help give a sense of consistency. One
table features the design firm’s signature metal cross braces, which are
complemented by an unusual horse head finial. The other table is adorned with
winged-sphinx supports and a harlequin-patterned yellow and green mosaic top.
The pièces de résistance are a sofa and two armchairs likely made by 1930s
Parisian designer Jean-Michel Frank, which still wear their original blue
satin-velvet upholstery with a quilted diamond pattern. "I really don’t care if
they’re by Frank or not; what I love is the shape and the fabric," says Bruno,
who is equally ardent about his art.
In the living room, a Cubist figurative painting by Raymond
Feuillatte from the 1940s hangs above Bruno’s beloved blue sofa. A contemporary
work made of tree bark sits above one Jansen console, and a Cubist painting of a
woman—Bruno’s favorite piece—hangs over the other. "I lived in La Jolla,
California for a while during the 1980s, where I knew Francoise Gilot," he says,
referring to Picasso’s third wife, who was also an artist. "I first saw this
work in her studio, and it had to come with me."
Bruno is no less devoted to pieces without pedigree or provenance, but they
must have a presence and personality that reflect his joie de vivre. Take the
seven-foot metal tree that Bruno spotted in a shop window on rue Jacob, which he
speculates came from an Italian church. "I was having a cocktail party that same
evening and asked the dealer if I could take the tree home to try it out," says
Bruno. "I knew it was a keeper when everybody wanted it." The same could be said
for his apartment as a whole.
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