Since the death in 1991 of Serge Gainsbourg (the legendary singer, actor, artist, and director), his home has become a shrine for fans around the world who have left messages, graffiti portraits, and flowers outside the home.
As NME reports, the property, which is owned by his actor daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg, has been kept as it was since he died. Now, the property will open to the public on September 20th.
Much of his music was composed at the piano in the property’s living room and several of his album cover photos were taken in the house.
British daily Guardian notes that among the 25,000 items in the property includes photography, musical instruments, his clothes, as well as paintings by Salvador Dali and Claude Lalanne.
The Maison Gainsbourg website describes it as the “first cultural institution dedicated to Serge Gainsbourg.” It is expecting around 100,000 visitors per year.
As well as the house at 5 bis rue de Verneuil, a museum will open opposite the property with a bookshop and a cafe-piano bar, ‘le Gainsbarre.’
Charlotte Gainsbourg explains: “At the beginning, it was the family house, with my mother, my sister, him and me. In my mother’s (Jane Birkin’s) time, there was very little, and then there was more and more of a very arranged mess. He turned it into a museum full of objects while he was alive, and it was hard to walk around without being afraid of breaking something.”
