Maison Jansen is an interior design house located in Paris. It was founded in 1880 by the Dutchman Jean-Henri Jansen and continued its activities until 1989. The Jansen House is considered the leading global design firm, offering its services in Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East, particularly in the 1900s.
From the very beginning, Jansen has combined traditional furnishings with new trends inspired by the Anglo-Japanese style, the Arts & Crafts movement and Turkish style. The company paid particular attention to historical research, to which it tried to match the wishes of its customers for comfortable and convenient spaces. Within ten years, the firm had become one of the largest purchasers of antiques in Europe, and around 1890 it established an antique gallery as a separate company that bought and sold objects to Jansen's customers and even to its competitors.
In the early 1920s, Jean-Henri Jansen approached Stéphane Boudin, who was then working in the field of textile decoration, a company run by his father Alexandre Boudin; Stéphane Boudin was hired and brought cash to the House. Boudin's attention to detail and historical precision, his ability to create striking and theatrical spaces gave the firm a new lease of life. Boudin became director and participated in its development.
In the beginning, the Jansen House had no workshop to create its own furniture; it used antique furniture or furniture made by craftsmen. However, in the early 1890s, Jansen created its own workshops, which enabled it to produce contemporary furniture as well as reproductions of Louis XIV, Louis XVI, Directoire and Empire furniture.
Throughout its history, the firm has employed the traditional European style of design but has also followed European trends in this field, notably the Vienna Secession, Modernism and Art Deco, which were developed by the firm between 1920 and 1950.
Under Boudin's direction, the House of Jansen worked for the royal families of Belgium, Iran and Serbia; it also worked for Elsie de Wolfe, for the Reichsbank during the Nazi period; and for Lady Olive Baillie in her castle in Leeds, Kent. Boudin and Paul Manno, who headed Jansen House in New York, worked at the White House under the administration of John F. Kennedy. Jansen House decorated the yacht Chambel IV, now known as NorthWind II, which was one of his last achievements.