Some of their finds were astonishing. In one room is a suite of wall panels by Jean Démosthène Dugourc, a Louis XVI chandelier with 24 candles and Louis XVI putti wall lamps in gilt bronze. Another room showcases a Louis XV firescreen, sofa and six armchairs covered in Gobelin tapestries by Nicolas Heurtaut and a sofa from the Château de la Roche-Guyon (the remainder of the set is in the Louvre). These rest on a massive Aubusson carpet dating from the 19th century, that Graf believes was “probably ordered for Les Tuileries by Louis XVIII after the French Empire.”

For one of the smaller meeting rooms, Graf took a 17th-century leather screen from Holland that was gilded, stamped and painted with designs of exotic birds and flowers and used the panels to line the walls.

For another small room he chose an extraordinary oversized chandelier commissioned by King Louis-Philippe for the wedding of his youngest son, Antoine d’Orleans, Duc de Montpensier. This hangs above a large table and chairs emblazoned with them coat of arms of the Mortemarts, one of the oldest families in France whose most renowned member, Madame de Montespan, was the mistress of Louis XIV. The dining room is dominated by a collection of silver by Lewin Dedeke that was owned by Louis XVI’s cousin, the Prince of Hanover, and a massive 18-branch silver chandelier by Robert Garrard II.

These major pieces serve as anchors around which Graf arranged some of the finest period furniture, including a pair of low Louis XVI bookcases by André-Charles Boulle, corner cabinets with panels in Chinese lacquer by Jacques Dubois, a pair of Régence bookcases by Charles Cressent, a pair of Louis XVI console tables by Adam Weisweiler, a Louis XV upright writing desk by Joseph Baumhauer and a set of armchairs and a settee by Georges Jacob, which is illustrated in a drawing conserved in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In addition there are urns, clocks and the most extraordinary régulateur de parquet (tall, standing clock) with inlaid brass marquetry made by Boulle. One particular favorite of both Bébéar and Graf is a royal Savonnerie carpet that was discovered in excellent condition in England. “Carpets in this period were just used in the winter and they were rolled and sent to storage for summer,” Graf explains. “So if this carpet was just used on the north of the house, it is almost as if new. The blue is blue, the red is red. It’s amazing.”

Graf augmented the antiques with brocade wall fabrics and lush curtains he had woven in the Prelle factory in Lyon and embroidered by Jean-François Lesage in Madras, India. He designed each pattern based on historical precedents, such as sketches of Dugourc for the bed of Empress Josephine at her chateau Malmaison and for curtains intended for the state chamber of Louis XVI in Versailles.

Graf’s attention to detail is extraordinary. “Nobody can tell what has been done in this house,” he says. “That was the point of the restoration.” There is a feeling of authenticity in the space, and Bébéar and Graf succeeded in their goal of letting visitors “be in a very serious and elegant French house that [would] show people the French taste of the turn of the 18th century.” They have done more than just show it: With employees and visitors using the space on a daily basis, they have brought the period alive once again.

Rebecca Dimling Cochran, ART & ANTIQUES’ Atlanta correspondent, is an art critic and curator.