Chambre de bonne
Encyclopedia
A chambre de bonne is a type of French
apartment
consisting of a single room in a middle-class house
or apartment building. It is generally found on the top floor and only accessible by a staircase; sometimes a separate "service staircase". Initially, these rooms were intended as the bedroom for one of the family's
domestics, and the name originates from the colloquial name for such maids: a "bonne à tout faire". Today, chambres de bonne are usually the cheapest rung on the Parisian letting market, and are primarily rented
by less well-off workers and students. They are also in high demand among workers who wish to maintain a small room or postal address in a big city, especially Paris.
Due to the social level of the envisaged occupants, chambres de bonne are characterised by their tight proportions. The rooms usually have a surface area of around 6-12 m2, which is sometimes accentuated by being in a garret
. They tend to offer minimal facilities: toilets are usually shared with the neighbouring rooms, and located on the landing.
Chambres de bonne have nevertheless been the object of legislation
to preserve their occupants' quality of life and health. In the twentieth century, the French government stipulated that all rental properties must have a minimum surface area
of 9 m2, a volume of 20 m3, and openings (windows, doors, etc.) equivalent to an eighth of the surface area.
In recent years, landlords
have attempted to rebrand their chambres de bonne by advertising them as studettes, a hitherto-unknown category of housing for smaller studios (broadly, those of 12 m2 or less). Since most listings agencies do not recognise a firm distinction between "studios" and "studettes", chambres de bonne may also simply be advertised as studios. Parisian apartment-hunters are, nevertheless, often able to infer that a studio is a chambre de bonne from its listing, due to the distinctive features described above.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
consisting of a single room in a middle-class house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
or apartment building. It is generally found on the top floor and only accessible by a staircase; sometimes a separate "service staircase". Initially, these rooms were intended as the bedroom for one of the family's
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
domestics, and the name originates from the colloquial name for such maids: a "bonne à tout faire". Today, chambres de bonne are usually the cheapest rung on the Parisian letting market, and are primarily rented
Leasehold estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....
by less well-off workers and students. They are also in high demand among workers who wish to maintain a small room or postal address in a big city, especially Paris.
Due to the social level of the envisaged occupants, chambres de bonne are characterised by their tight proportions. The rooms usually have a surface area of around 6-12 m2, which is sometimes accentuated by being in a garret
Garret
A garret is generally synonymous in modern usage with a habitable attic or small living space at the top of a house. It entered Middle English via Old French with a military connotation of a watchtower or something akin to a garrison, in other words a place for guards or soldiers to be quartered...
. They tend to offer minimal facilities: toilets are usually shared with the neighbouring rooms, and located on the landing.
Chambres de bonne have nevertheless been the object of legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
to preserve their occupants' quality of life and health. In the twentieth century, the French government stipulated that all rental properties must have a minimum surface area
Surface area
Surface area is the measure of how much exposed area a solid object has, expressed in square units. Mathematical description of the surface area is considerably more involved than the definition of arc length of a curve. For polyhedra the surface area is the sum of the areas of its faces...
of 9 m2, a volume of 20 m3, and openings (windows, doors, etc.) equivalent to an eighth of the surface area.
In recent years, landlords
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
have attempted to rebrand their chambres de bonne by advertising them as studettes, a hitherto-unknown category of housing for smaller studios (broadly, those of 12 m2 or less). Since most listings agencies do not recognise a firm distinction between "studios" and "studettes", chambres de bonne may also simply be advertised as studios. Parisian apartment-hunters are, nevertheless, often able to infer that a studio is a chambre de bonne from its listing, due to the distinctive features described above.