A white staircase stretching between a white floor to a white ceiling against a white wall holds chaux lime plaster sculptures on each step tread in a cellar basement room with a stone archway, brass wall lamp, and dark brown antique chair in a 1000-year-old stone building in Provence, France, renovated by Belgian artist Eva Claessens and converted into her home and studio.

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In the guest suite is a staircase that goes nowhere. Eva initially wanted to connect the space to her bedroom above but changed her mind. "I told the workers, ‘Leave the stairs,’ " she says. "Then I started to put some stones and pieces of leftover chaux. It’s full of objects that aren’t really anything."