This article originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of ELLE DECOR. For more stories from our archive, subscribe to ELLE DECOR All Access.Jean-Franois Lesage used to live above the embroidery workshop he runs in an Arts and Craftsstyle house in Chennai, India. As the business grew, however, space became an issue. One day, I found myself with craftsmen embroidering just outside my bedroom door, he recalls. I figured it was time to move before they ended up working on my bed!The spacious apartment he discovered, in a nearby area called Poes Garden, is on the top floor of a 1980s Art Deco-style building that stands out for its grand entry hall. The buildings slightly idiosyncratic designer was an engineer and astrophysicist named Basu John, whose widow still lives across the hallway from Lesage. There are lots of square feet that serve no purpose and rooms with strange angles, he says. Richard PowersThe sitting rooms hand-embroidered rug is by Lesage Intrieurs, the votive dolls are early 20th century, and the gilt-wood wings on the floor are Baroque; Lesage bought the lamp 20 years ago from a surgery-tool shop and found the 1920s fresco fragments on the street.Lesages unit has a triangular dining area and an immense kitchen. There are also countless balconies, a central courtyard open to the elements, and a staircase that leads from the mezzanine overlooking the living room to a roof terrace. With all the air circulating, it feels almost like living in a ship thats run aground, he jokes.Lesage comes from a family with beads and gold thread in their blood. They have been embroiderers since the 1860s, and his late father, Franois, was a legend in the fashion world who worked on couture collections for everyone from Coco Chanel and Cristbal Balenciaga to Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. Richard PowersThe spiral staircase that leads from the mezzanine to the rooftop was installed by the buildings architect, Basu John; an embroidered-velvet panel remains on its original embroidery frame, the Indian model of an English villa is 19th century, a 17th-century bronze oil lamp sits atop a 19th-century table, and the mirror is a Lesage design.His own commissions have been no less distinguished. They include the restoration of Louis XVs crown for the Louvre and a set of red-and-gold curtains for the presidential palace in Delhi. Lesages specialty, however, is creating embroideries for interiors, and he has collaborated with top French designers including Franois-Joseph Graf and Jacques Grange. His work is unbelievably luxurious, declares another client, Jean-Louis Deniot. Adds the ELLE DECOR A-List Titan Robert Couturier, The sense of creativity and level of sophistication Jean-Franois brings to his work is really quite exceptional.Richard PowersA cabinet in the dining room holds 18th- and 19th-century fertility figurines, a painting by Lesages sister, Marion, and a photograph of fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin. Lesage, who grew up in Versailles, first visited India at the age of 19 and immediately felt like a fish in water. Im much more at home in societies where theres a certain sense of chaos, he explains. With his business associate Patrick Savouret, Lesage settled in Chennai in 1993, after discovering an age-old community of embroiderers in the nearby town of Sriperumbudur. Today, 200 of them are under his employment. And while hes clearly found an extraordinary talent pool to craft the yards of embroidery for his business, its the locals themselves who make these fineries come to life.Theres also a sort of languor, which I find agreeable.In many ways, his apartment is in complete contrast to the aesthetic of the region, with its abundance of bright, candy-color temples. His walls are mainly white, and the floors are a dark green slate from Rajasthan. There is also a certain sobriety in the choice of objects. Its very soothing, he explains. When youre surrounded by vivid hues all the time, and its so hot, you dont want to be stifled by an overabundance of things. Richard PowersIn another bedroom, the rosewood bed and wall behind it are covered with re-embroidered Indian textiles, and the 1960s lamps were designed for film shootsThe majority of the furnishings he surrounds himself with were acquired in India. He avows a love of portraits, collects votive temple lamps from the 17th to 19th centuries, and has a host of statuettes offered as fertility gifts at religious festivals. Lesage comes from a family with beads and gold thread in their blood.Many acquisitions have interesting stories attached. An armchair in the living room originally belonged to the Madras high court, which transported itself to the mountains during the sweltering summer months. It has screws everywhere so it can be completely dismantled, he points out. Nearby are a pair of terra-cotta temple statues, bought from a well-born antiques dealer who resisted social pressures to open her own gallery, since it is taboo in the state of Tamil Nadu for women from important families to have careers.Richard PowersA daybed on the mezzanine is covered with a fabric by Lesage Intrieurs, the chair is from the 1950s, and the 14th-century sculpture is of a Hindu deity. Even embroidery is kept to a minimum here. Exceptions include a few prototypes still on their looms, the curtains in the dining room edged with a Louis XV motif, and an assortment of trompe loeil animal-skin rugs sewn with wool thread. I like little poetic nods to the British Raj, he says.Perhaps another gesture that harkens to those earlier times is his open-door policy at home. Ive never had keys to any of my homes in India, he says. One of the luxuries of living here is you can have full-time staff, so you dont need to worry about security. Often, Lesage will come home to find his neighbor from across the hall in his sitting room. When we leave both our flats open, it forms a huge space filled with beautiful things, he says. She feels at home at my place, just as I do in hers. It really is such an agreeable way of life!Tour Jean-Franoises quirky apartment in India This story originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of ELLE DECOR. SUBSCRIBE