This term originates from the 1920s when such communes were a hallmark of the era. In our previous issue, we discussed Villa Noailles in Hyères, owned by Viscount Charles and Viscountess Marie-Laure de Noailles. For many years, it served as exactly such a commune. It was home to Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau, Francis Poulenc, and many other friends and acquaintances from Parisian art circles and the broader bohemian world. Some were married, others engaged in complex romantic relationships; some were close friends, while others were mere acquaintances—or almost accidental guests who stayed longer than planned. Yet they all gathered here, forming new connections and sharing life and creativity.

In the 1920s, there were quite a few such communes—one might think of Maxim Gorky’s house on Capri or Chanel’s villa Bel Respiro. Nearby stood Villa E-1027, designed by Eileen Gray, where she and her companion, Jean Badovici, often lived alongside friends—architects, artists, and designers, including Le Corbusier, who eventually adorned its walls with murals. Even the house featured in our shoot, the renowned Maison Louis Carré, designed by the eminent Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto for the Parisian art dealer and gallerist Louis Carré, was, if not a commune, then a gathering place where clients and artist friends such as Raoul Dufy, Édouard Vuillard, Fernand Léger, and Le Corbusier spent extended stays. It’s easy to see why such spaces flourished in Europe between the two world wars.

Each new wave of liberalization in the Western world sparked a resurgence of communes. The anti-war movement and the rise of youth culture in the 1960s gave birth to hippie communes, while the nonconformism of the 1990s brought squats. Political correctness, marriage equality, and new ethical paradigms have led to today’s co-living spaces. Perhaps our imminent future lies in shared living among creative professionals of all ages.