Bridge For Design November Issue 2015 November 2015 | Página 109

FACING PAGE: Marquise style
armchairs from San Miguel de
Allende, Italian wood chairs, and
bleached oak floors in the front
parlour; the shades are of a Tony
Duquette cotton, and the iron halo
came from a traditional Mexican
religious statue
RIGHT: The cocktail table, settee
and metal work side table in the
living room are all by Casamidy,
and the chinoiserie style armchairs
are vintage; a painting by Mari Jose
Marin (left) and a pencil drawing by
Philippe Senegral flank the mantel.

A

nne-Marie Midy and Jorge Almada knew it was
going to be a challenge to move their family from a
provincial Mexican town, San Miguel de Allende, to
the northern European capital of Brussels. First, there
were the logistics of buying and renovating an overseas
townhouse, largely over the internet. The couple worried about how
their toddler sons, Oliver and Antoine, would adapt to a place where
everything from language to weather would be dramatically different.
The transition before them was daunting enough - and then along
came the barracuda.
Midy, who grew up in Paris, met Almada in the United States,
where they both attended college in the early 1990’s. They shared an
interest in design, as well as the unusual fact that both their mothers
had been trans-atlantic flight attendants before getting married (Midy’s
father was French, while Almada’s is Mexican). They fell in love and,
after spending a few years in New York, moved to Mexico, where they
started a company, Casamidy, collaborating with local artisans to create
a line of contemporary furniture.
Casamidy’s high-style take on Mexican craft - their designs
incorporate traditional handmade tin and iron work - soon became a
success north of the border. After more than a decade in San Miguel,
Midy and Almada hoped to expand their business abroad. Meanwhile,

Midy wanted her sons to have a French education and the experience
of living in Europe. After weighing their options, they chose Brussels
as their base. “It’s a diplomatic centre where people speak a lot of
languages, so we knew we would feel comfortable,” Almada says. “It’s
much more affordable than Paris, yet only an hour away by train. And
Belgium has such a strong de sign aesthetic. It felt like an adventure.”
Once they had decided on the location for their new home, they
set about finding the perfect address. “We kept making offers but the
houses there go as quickly as pains au chocolat,” Middy jokes. At last,
they purchased a stone townhouse dating from 1907. To their dismay,
all the walls were covered in uninspired, old fashioned wallpaper. But
they loved what Midy calls the “beautiful volumes of space.” The
location on Avenue Moilière, a grand boulevard of embassies and
private residences, is well situated near Place Brugmann, a bustling
square filled with restaurants, boutiques and antiques shops.
Renovating a home across an ocean had its complications. When
the workers steamed off the old wallpaper, the walls beneath crumbled
and had to be replastered - an unforeseen expense and delay. At one
point, the construction foreman e-mailed Midy that the colour she had
specified for the library upstairs - a greyish lavender known in French
as parme - was so ugly he assumed it was a mistake. He told the workers
to stop painting. “Continue,” came Midy’s response.
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