Just steps from the Gare Montparnasse is the preserved home, studio and gardens of late sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. A student of Rodin, Bourdelle was best known for his dramatic, muscular sculptures in marble and bronze. Expect grand hallways and quiet courtyards lined with his works; the bedrooms and dining room have been left nearly untouched.

Once the residence of a prominent Jewish-French banking family renowned for their exceptional collection of 18th-century French furniture and art, the home was meticulously restored to its original grandeur and opened to the public in 1936. Named for the family’s eldest son—a decorated military officer who died in World War I—it’s an emblem of aristocratic elegance, with period rooms full of Sèvres porcelain, Gobelins tapestries, and family photographs, as if the owners had just stepped out.

We can think of no better place to spend a couple of hours on a hot afternoon than the shaded interior and leafy gardens of the late 19th-century sculptor’s home-turned-museum. Split over two floors, the mansion—housing famous works like “The Kiss” and a small model of “The Burghers of Calais”—empties outdoors, where “The Thinker” looms over perfectly trimmed rose bushes. On the second floor, don’t miss the wall of fragmented limbs, and be sure to linger in the garden with a lemonade and a book.

The artist’s former studio and home induct you into his private world of Symbolism and vivid, dreamlike sensibility. Starting in Moreau’s moody, velvet-curtained bedroom full of books, classical furniture and personal artifacts, you move up to his soaring and light-filled studio with its beautiful spiral staircase and collection of over 1,000 mythological paintings, watercolors and unfinished canvases—in our opinion, one of the most underrated museums in Paris.

A collection of over 25,000 objects, including artwork, furniture, documents, and clothing from the archive of the late French singer, actor and provocateur, preserved in the home—“5 Bis”—where Gainsbourg lived and worked for the last two decades of his life. Look for the graffitied facade, still covered with the original art and notes left by loving fans soon after his passing. The basement offers a rotating curation of temporary exhibitions highlighting key events from his life and career.

This original flagship location of the iconic design house, which opened its doors right off the Champs Elysées in 1946, was transformed into a museum and gallery that captures Christian Dior’s vision and spirit. The installations and artworks are stunning and the final spiral staircase amidst the “colorama” wall of miniatures are especially amazing.

In the late 19th-century and early 20th, the building at 12 rue Cortot was a gathering place and residence—attracting artists like Renoir, who had his studio there, as well as Suzanne Valadon, Émile Bernard and Raoul Dufy. Built in the late 17th century and one of the oldest buildings on the "Butte of Montmartre," it preserves a sense of lived-in creative history, with period rooms, artists’ studios and windows that overlook the same leafy gardens that Renoir painted.

Built at the end of the 19th century by banker Edouard André and his wife Nélie Jacquemart, this historic mansion is a portal to the daily life of French aristocrats. Each room blends Belle Époque details—gold molding, marble flooring—with art and sculpture; the family’s private art collection, with works by Botticelli, Bellini, Francois Boucher, and Rembrandt, is up there with some of the world’s top museums.

Housed in the same home on the edge of the Marais where the Tunisian designer lived and worked, the exhibit features a selection of his garments that together show the evolution of his work since the ‘70s. There’s also his personal collection of art, photography, furniture and fashion amassed over the course of a lifetime—and we highly recommend stopping by the bookstore for great souvenirs and gifts.

Also known as Maison Loo, it was once the home of art collector and dealer Ching Tsai Loo, who bought the property in 1925 and transformed it into its modern form. The bold red exterior stands apart from its classically Parisian neighbors, while inside, Asian art and antiques have been preserved with much of the original decor–ornate wallpapers, shelves full of porcelain and vintage books.

The small flat where the architect Le Corbusier lived and worked from 1935 until his death in 1965 occupies the top two floors of a modernist building he designed with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was the first all-glass sided apartment block in history. Open to visitors by appointment, the apartment reflects Le Corb’s minimalist ethos, with built-in furniture and clever use of light—a living manifesto of his ideas.