Family
A Normandy house carefully transformed into a cabinet of curiosities.
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Morgan Diguerher and Jean-Pierre Vipotnik
Who would have thought? Behind the thick walls of this Norman house, nestled in a lush garden, lies a true cabinet of curiosities—reminiscent of those Renaissance-era collections filled with scientific marvels, exquisite craftsmanship (artificialia), and natural history treasures. Morgan Diguerher, a designer and decorator, and his partner Jean-Pierre Vipotnik, a surgical nurse, have traveled the world—from Paris to New York via Berlin—before finally settling here. But they didn’t come alone. With their art, objects, cat, and a deep aversion to empty spaces, they have transformed this 19th-century farmhouse into a warm and welcoming home, often echoing with the laughter of friends. The Socialite Family sat down with them by the fireplace for a chat.
Location
Normandie
Author
Elsa Cau
Photos and videos
Constance Gennari
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TSF
Morgan, who are you?
Morgan
I work as an ensemblier on various interior projects between Rouen, Deauville, and the Eure region. I don’t like the idea of "decor"; I prefer to say that I assemble and "bring things together." I love this old-fashioned term ensemblier, which I actually find very modern. I also sometimes design my own furniture—when I can’t find what I’m looking for. Jean-Pierre and I have been together for 21 years, first living in Paris, New York, and Berlin, and now in Normandy. Four years ago, our Abyssinian cat came into our lives and made them complete. At the end of 2024, we left Paris for good.
TSF
What is your background?
Morgan
Jean-Pierre has been a cardiovascular surgery nurse for 25 years. Currently, he works in the operating room in the Normandy region. A few years ago, he obtained a diploma in jewelry-making as part of a CAP at the École Boulle and created his own collections. For several seasons, he designed jewelry collections for the house of Léonard, at the time under the artistic direction of Christine Phung, whom he later followed to create jewelry for her runway shows. As for me, I studied art history, followed by fashion, design, and marketing. For nearly 25 years, I designed accessories and leather goods for brands such as Zadig & Voltaire, Lancel, Chloé, Repetto, Paco Rabanne, Le Tanneur, and even in New York for Diane Von Furstenberg, then in Berlin for the brand Libeskind Berlin, which is well known in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. My specialty is leather goods and accessories. At home, I have an office on the top floor with nearly a thousand vintage bags. I worked there for a long time with various teams from the brands I mentioned because there was plenty of space and a peaceful environment to think and create. In 2020, I founded a decoration studio called Ensemble-Lié. I don’t impose a specific style; I see myself more like a psychologist entering people’s personal spaces to understand their artistic choices, tastes, and decision-making processes. I ask myself: How can we translate this, stage it, and create or rethink a space? Ultimately, when you design a bag, you're already working in three dimensions—you think in three dimensions. So transitioning from one field to the other was incredibly easy, because you immediately visualize the interplay of color and textures!
TSF
What kind of environment did you grow up in, and how do you think it influenced your tastes?
Morgan
Jean-Pierre comes from a family originally from the east of France. In their home, an interior is above all practical, functional, and welcoming. It was thanks to his paternal grandparents that he developed an appreciation for well-crafted objects, and from his mother, he inherited a strong taste for vintage. In their family, they value keeping objects, passing them down, repurposing them, and even making things themselves. His father is incredibly skilled, technically. He is gifted in working with all kinds of materials and capable of creating anything from just an idea. Jean-Pierre has always been drawn to imagery. In our relationship, Jean-Pierre is the one who has guided our choices when it comes to collecting photography prints from artists like André de Dienes, Volker Conradus, Isabelle Wenzel, and photographers such as Bert Stern. As for me, I grew up in my grandparents' home, a five-story townhouse. I lived on the top floor, which was originally reserved for the household staff—it had three bedrooms. I would change rooms depending on the seasons. I had my summer room, my winter room, and an extra one. My grandparents and great-grandparents were silk manufacturers from Lyon. They owned a goldsmith workshop, where they wove gold and silver threads to create trimmings and passementerie. At the time, they worked for haute couture, notably for Hubert de Givenchy. So it was my family who instilled in me a love for beautiful things, craftsmanship, expertise, a refined way of living, and kindness. And, of course, all of this was wrapped in great elegance, always in service of good taste. My grandfather, for instance, would never leave the house unless his shoes were perfectly polished (laughs).
TSF
Tell us the story of this place.
Morgan
We were looking for a house to buy about an hour to an hour and a half from Paris. One day, while heading to Granville for a weekend at a friend’s place, we stopped to view this one. It was love at first sight. We didn’t visit any others. We bought it… and then, well, it took us a few months to fully assess the cost of renovations, which turned out to be enormous (laughs). So, we bought the house first, and only afterward did we truly discover the region—the Vexin Normand, nestled in a bend of the Seine. This was originally a family home, acquired in 1979 by a Parisian family. It previously belonged to the Bouchara family and was once part of Louis Renault’s properties—his château is actually our neighbor. Our home is a former farmhouse, one of several that Renault purchased to provide food for their workers based in Les Andelys. The house itself dates back to 1850, from the Napoleon III era, and has undergone various extensions and modifications over the years.
TSF
Have you done a lot of renovations here?
Morgan
Ah, the renovations—let’s just say we tackled everything from floor to ceiling! The house wasn’t livable as it was. The first time we arrived after getting the keys, we went to pour ourselves a glass of water. We turned on the tap, and mud came gushing out. The place had seriously deteriorated. We had to start with insulation work, replacing all the windows and doors, and then, in the first year, we renovated the bedrooms and one of the bathrooms. In the second year, we completely redid the kitchen, reworked the floor plan, removed some bedrooms and bathrooms, and changed the internal layout. Every year, we reimagined another part of the house. We also restored the façades—shutters, woodwork… Then, we acquired several plots of land around the property to ensure no new construction would face the house. And that’s not even mentioning the garden! A real jungle. I think we removed about 15 dumpsters' worth of vegetation in just 10 days. Our families came to help, we brought in contractors—which was also a challenge. And one of the biggest difficulties was that there were bedrooms everywhere—there were 10 in total. In the end, we kept only two in the main house and two in the annex.
TSF
What was the biggest challenge of the renovation?
Morgan
Redesigning the spaces within the house—even down to the direction of the staircase. Some areas felt cramped and overly partitioned, so we wanted to open them up. But in some cases, we also chose to close spaces off!
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“We have a love for exchanges, sharing, and conversations. This house is filled with objects that tell stories of many different cultures. It is meant to feel warm and welcoming.”
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TSF
Quelle ambiance avez-vous voulu créer ici ?
Morgan
On a ce goût des échanges, du partage, des conversations. Ici, il y a énormément d'objets qui parlent de plein de cultures différentes. Et cette maison se veut chaleureuse. C'est un lieu où l'on accueille, où on reçoit, où on a des discussions, des échanges, où on crée des rencontres aussi entre différents groupes d'amis. C'est un lieu de vie, quoi. Mais aussi un lieu où l'on se repose, où l'on s'échappe dans un autre espace-temps. D'ailleurs, quand vous franchissez le portail, vous ne savez pas trop dans quelle époque vous plongez. L'une de nos amies qualifie l'endroit de Worldly Elegant (rires). Au début de l’année, on a décidé de quitter complètement Paris et de vivre ici. On se sent bien.
TSF
Parlez-nous d’une ou plusieurs pièces que vous aimez tout particulièrement ici.
Morgan
Il y a beaucoup d'objets japonais, balinais, de l'art africain, mais en même temps de l'art moderne, avec une sérigraphie de Sonia Delaunay, de la photo contemporaine avec Charles Fréger qui est un photographe rouennais, d'ailleurs venu à la maison. Ici, on aime créer des rencontres avec des gens du monde de l'art, aussi. Bref, difficile de choisir ! Je vais prendre pour exemple deux portraits de Marilyn que nous conservons ici, l'un par Bert Stern et l'autre par André de Dienes. Le Bert Stern, c'est un petit format qui est dans la très sombre montée de l'escalier. Cette cage d'escalier a été pensée comme un lieu de passage, comme un passage de l'ombre vers la lumière. On est très sensibles à la philosophie Wabi Sabi (reliant deux principes : wabi (solitude, tristesse, dissymétrie…) et sabi (l'altération par le temps, les choses vieillissantes, la patine des objets). Le wabi fait référence à la plénitude et la modestie que l'on peut éprouver face aux phénomènes naturels, et le sabi, à la sensation face aux choses dans lesquelles on peut déceler le travail du temps ou des hommes, ndlr. C'est presque comme une symbolique de vie, cet escalier ! Le Bert Stern, c'est la dernière séance de Marylin, elle pose avec ce côté un peu mélancolique et on sait que cette séance a précédé sa disparition. Et, face à ce tirage, il y a la première séance de Marylin, où elle n'était pas encore complètement Marylin, par André de Dienes, pour laquelle il lui avait demandé d'incarner la joie. Elle est simplement vêtue de cette couverture sur la plage, elle est absolument rayonnante. Il y a cette joie. Le début et la fin.
TSF
Quelles sont vos bonnes adresses dans les environs ?
Morgan
Jérôme Bellec aux Andelys, un boulanger-pâtissier extraordinaire. Le meilleur paris-brest, le meilleur saint-honoré. Récemment, il nous a préparé, par exemple, une omelette norvégienne, à partir d'une recette qu'il a retrouvée dans un livre des années 1950. C'était incroyable. La brasserie des Deux Amants, qui n'est pas très loin, organise des concerts tous les vendredis soir pendant la belle saison. C'est très convivial et les bières sont excellentes. Enfin, le marché des Andelys tous les samedis que j’affectionne particulièrement : on a la chance d’avoir d’excellents producteurs et éleveurs locaux.
TSF
Que pensez-vous de The Socialite Family ?
Morgan
The Socialite Family, c'est d'abord une rencontre avec Constance Gennari, qui était complètement fortuite. On se croisait régulièrement sans se connaître, justement en Normandie. Je connaissais déjà le média. Ce que j'y apprécie, c'est qu'on peut vraiment identifier les gens qui vivent dans un lieu et vice versa. Souvent, on parle plus du résultat que de l'initiative ou du processus créatif. La démarche de The Socialite Family humanise les intérieurs. On observe différentes personnalités et pourquoi on a ce type de résultat ! J'adore pouvoir mettre un visage sur un intérieur. Je trouve que c'est plus fort. C'est beaucoup moins froid qu'un magazine sur papier glacé où vous avez de belles photos, de belles images très léchées. Le format de Socialite Family, il est en vie, il est en mouvement, il parle, il est éloquent, il est dans le dialogue.
TSF
Avez-vous une pièce favorite dans notre collection ?
Morgan
Nos deux pièces favorites sont les lampes
et
emplies de couleur et de joie !
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