It’s been a century since the city of Paris staged the Olympic Games: The VIII Olympiad: Paris 1924. There were just 126 medal events that year. But, oh, what a year it was!
The stars of those epic summer games would become legends of the silver screen: Long before he was cast as Tarzan the Ape Man, American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller won gold in the 400m freestyle, the 4x200m team relay, and the 100m freestyle—beating the “Big Kahuna,” Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing. There was the “Phantom Finn,” Paavo Nurmi, whose nine middle- and long-distance running gold medals and 22 world records were documented in 1978’s The Man and His Times; and rival British sprinters Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, aka the “Flying Scotsman,” whose impassioned victories on—and off—the track were immortalized in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. 
And so, with hats off to 1924, we look to the Summer Games of 2024, where the French capital will once again take another star turn as host city, July 26 to August 11. In its honor, Luxury Defined spotlights five stellar homes in and around the City of Light.
A century on from 1924, we see the Parisian architecture, decor and detail of the late 19th and early 20th centuries on display—but fully renewed, revived, and reinvigorated for 2024 and thereafter—with all that style, glamour, and elegance that so excite this glorious city. 
Vive la France! Vive l’Olympiade! Et vive Paris!
1. Duplex Penthouse in the Golden Triangle
This 225-square-meter (2,421-square-foot) residence in the elegant Parisian enclave of Place François Ier occupies the top two floors of an Art Deco building, designed in the 1930s by pioneering architect Charles Lemaresquier. 
The glass-enclosed reception room opens onto a vast terrace with an Eiffel Tower view. Adjacent are the dining room and an eat-in gourmet kitchen. The three bedrooms each have an en suite bath or shower room, and each opens to another privet-hedged terrace. 
The upper level features an 84-square-meter (904-square-foot) terrace, as well as a study, sitting room, and fitness room with an en suite shower. 
The fourth terrace has commanding views of the capital. A world below, two private parking spaces in the building are available for purchase. 
2. Renovated Apartment in the 7th Arrondissement
This magnificent apartment in Paris’s fashionable 7th arrondissement has a front-row view of the Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower—the Olympic venue for beach volleyball. 
This gracious residence occupies the third floor of an early 20th-century freestone building with a resident caretaker, an elevator, and storage cellar.
Sumptuously renovated to 21st-century luxury standards, the living spaces extend to about 207 square meters (about 2,225 square feet). The centerpiece is the vast living/dining space, bathed in sunlight through floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s served by a fully equipped, contemporary dine-in kitchen.
All rooms are air-conditioned, including the three en suite guest bedrooms and the principal suite with a shower room, dressing room, and a marble-clad en suite bathroom.
3. An Exceptional Apartment Near the Champs-Élysées
This rooftop retreat has a most prestigious location on Place Beauvau, a grand city square at the intersection of the world’s most fashionable street—the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré— Avenue de Marigny, Rue des Saussaies, and Rue de Miromesnil.
Inside are 320 square meters (3,444 square feet) of living space adorned with ornate period details—Versailles parquet floors, gilded wall panels, marble fireplaces, stained glass windows, and crystal chandeliers—all beautifully restored. 
The entrance hall, reception room, and dining room are grandly scaled for large gatherings. The kitchen is a contemporary affair, with its marble island and countertops, and windowed breakfast space. Adjacent are the prep kitchen, utility and storage rooms. 
Floor-to-ceiling windows in the study look out onto Place Beauvau and across the Haussmannian streetscape. All three bedrooms are en suite. The principal suite has a mahogany dressing room and a marble-tiled bathroom. The residence also includes a fifth-floor staff studio apartment and study. 
4. 19th-Century Townhouse on the River Seine
This 19th-century townhouse overlooks the River Seine from the historic heart of Paris: the Île de la Cité—home to Notre Dame Cathedral, Sainte-Chapelle, and the Conciergerie.
Meticulously renovated, the south-facing residence is on the Quai des Orfèvres (literally “the goldsmiths’ quay,” the former headquarters of the Paris Police Judiciaire and, incidentally, the setting and title of director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Edgar Award-winning 1947 film noir thriller). 
Inside, 350 square meters (3,767 square feet) of expansive living space, with oversized box windows and French doors provide landmark views of the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge across the River Seine.
Appointments include a large living/reception room, a dining room, a custom kitchen, two studies and four bedrooms, two with dressing rooms and three with en suite bathrooms. The ground-floor studio apartment has its own kitchen and bathroom.
Air conditioned throughout, the upper floors are accessed by elevator and elegant helical staircases. The basement provides a wine cellar and decanting space, technical/machinery spaces, a utility room, and a laundry room.
5. Restored Circa-1910 Residence Near Place de la Trocadéro
This Parisian residence is on the second floor of a beautiful Haussmann building in the green spaces of the 16th arrondissement, just off Place de la Trocadéro, with a postcard vista of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. 
The property has been beautifully renovated yet retains its period graces: with parquet floors, soaring ceilings, decorative moldings, and hand-carved marble fireplaces. Floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors illuminate the interior and open to the balcony.
There are five bedrooms in all, as well as an airy office/library, a contemporary dine-in kitchen, and two living rooms opening to a southeast-facing balcony with a view of the Eiffel Tower, the Palais de Chaillot, and the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, or “City of Architecture and Heritage,” the world’s largest museum devoted to architecture.
Private and secure, the building includes a glass-sheathed elevator, plentiful storage facilities, and a resident caretaker.
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