—1998

—2001

—2002

—2003

—2007

—2010

—2021

MY FIRST STORE IN JÁVEA: RUST & CO

“A few months later, I felt the need to open my first store in the port of Jávea, where I really wanted to live. I filled it with Mexican furniture, which was my favorite piece. That style, fresh and cheerful, especially dazzled foreigners. That is how my adventure as a businesswoman began: with high doses of enthusiasm and courage ... but also unconsciousness.

My days were very long, but I didn't mind working up to 20 hours straight. I would unload the trucks with the carrier and even deliver the furniture in my white Ford Fiesta. I started giving clients a sponge-painted wall and helped them decorate or make small renovations with the support of local builders and I didn't stop. That was the germ of the turn key project, because customers wanted a comprehensive service. Imagination was not lacking and I never lost the illusion ”.

MY FIRST WAREHOUSE

“That summer I hired my first employee. The store already had two display floors and a back room, where I painted the furniture with a polish that gave it an aged look and made my hands and nails black for years.

It soon became small and I expanded it, thanks to the windows of my husband's hairdresser. Then with the store next door. And later, with the warehouse that was in front of the store, where I was accumulating all the stock. I already had 3 employees… and a newborn son”.

THE EXPANSION

“At that time, I reached an agreement with the Sia brand and every three months, the store changed completely. In September we inaugurated the Christmas season, in January the spring season, in May the summer season and in August the autumn season. This is how I anticipated the concept store that we would create later or the Shop Your Space project ”.

MY STORE IN GATA DE GORGOS

“In the spring of 2002, we opened our second store, but in Gata de Gorgos, a neighboring town, also in the Marina Alta region and with great commercial movement thanks to local crafts. It was all a success".

THE LANDING IN MADRID

“In January 2003 my daughter Yasmine was born… and I began my love affair with Madrid. It all came about because in the spring of 2003 I went to Menorca to decorate Belén Rueda's house. The actress opened all the doors to me on the Balearic island and later her house in Madrid, which made me meet many artists. Like Javier Bardem, who introduced me to two of my best friends: Carlos, interior designer partner and friend of the soul, and Javier Cámara, who even to this day keeps joining me on all my adventures. For me it was an honor and a privilege to decorate the home of one of the best known actors in our country.

I was 28 years old and I came from Jávea to that Madrid for private parties, glamour and the rhythm of cinematographic life: shootings, premieres, restaurants, festivals ... I felt very lucky. Carlos and I were the interior designers of the famous. We soon understood that being a good decorator passed for being a good psychoanalyst.

That stage lasted more than four years, until Carlos passed away. It was one of the hardest moments I can remember, because he was like my brother and my accomplice”.

THE WAREHOUSE, “THE ATELIER”

“The two stores had become too small. I really wanted to expand and felt like a large warehouse was going to give me a whole new perspective.

I had never been to New York, but I imagined the warehouse as a New York loft: immaculate white walls, atelier windows... At first, people did not understand it because something like this did not exist yet in Spain: I mixed expensive objects with cheaper ones and it was not a store neither a studio. It was a concept store, like those that already existed in the great world capitals. It went from being a furniture store to a creative space.

At this stage, it was Amparo and I who were on the ship, because we delegated the port store and closed the one in Gata de Gorgos. It was our creative space: we had art books everywhere, interspersed with the decorative objects. So I decided to call it "Lifestyle Company".

I will never forget a truck that I bought from the artist Álvaro Tamarit, who is still in the warehouse today, “The truck of illusions”. It was a recycled piece, which represents one of my main values: recycling.

All that illusion was a consequence of the feeling of love I had for beauty in general and for my work in particular. I remember the emotion I experienced when buying each piece or when we made improvements, such as the forklift ”.

MY STORE IN MADRID

“The warehouse continued to grow and I became associated with a person who helped me a lot. It was then that the opportunity arose to open a beautiful store in Madrid, where he already had many friends and regular customers. It was a very beautiful and fun stage, which I remember with great affection: the AVE did not yet exist so I was leaving with my Volvo, loaded up with furniture and objects, with the perfect excuse of a geataway in Madrid for a few days.

My daughter Yasmine helped me set up the store, which was in the Barrio de las Letras, at that time in full artistic effervescence. But I soon realized that the cosmopolitan environment was in Jávea, where foreigners came to stay.

For a time I lived between one place and another, but I made the decision to return just when my daughter Martina was born. I decided to focus my energy in Jávea to make my lifestyle project grow”.

BATAILLE LIVING

“This is how Bataille Living was born, thanks to an investor who believed in my turn key project. The idea was to deliver a completely finished house, from the beginning to the end: I designed and built the house with the help of my team, I reformed it to my liking and then I enjoyed it in order to understand it... and then be able to sell it.

The first project was Maison Amour, with Manuel de Jorge as architect. It was a Mediterranean house, but at the same time modern, that we sold to some Belgian clients. Then came Ca Olivia, who we also sold to some Belgians. And from there we already start investing. Ca La Pinada was my first bioclimatic project, which we sold to some Dutch clients. I connected very well with a company that built under the passivhaus philosophy and I immediately saw that this was the future: an expansion of the Mediterranean lifestyle, because it was sustainable, low-consumption, perfect for a North-European client.

Little by little, we were integrating the culture of service. We understood that we were not selling a house, but that we were offering a lifestyle, because we made each client feel part of a community: that is how we began to organize activities, such as classical music concerts on the ship ”.

RECYCLING AS A VALUE

“From there, I focused on recycling, our main asset: we started recycling houses that had been built by VAPF in the 70s and 80s.

At the same time, we were making progress in the passivhaus concept: training our teams and working with technical architects who advised us on sustainability issues. The second Jessica Bataille house certified as passivhaus, Ca La Siesta, will be finished in 2021: it will mark a before and after, because it will be the first in Jávea.

All this accumulated experience has also led us to evolve the after-sales concept. Thus was born our concierge service. And then we thought: why don't we also offer the possibility of renting the houses to our clients?

THE STAY RESIDENCES AND SHOP YOUR SPACES ARE BORN

“This 2021 we materialize two projects in which we have been working for several years: The Stay Residences is our online platform for the rental of Mediterranean houses: those that we have renovated during these years for our clients, will also be available for vacation rental. We want to create a life experience inspired by Jávea.

This new line of business completes our proposal because we take another step: we are no longer an interior design company, but we are, more than ever, a Mediterranean lifestyle company.

Also this year, Shop your Space will see the light: an online sales platform for complete spaces, where we will also tell the stories behind each object, each material, each artisan.

We want to promote a lifestyle that customers can enjoy immediately, always focused on the experience. It is a Shop your look applied to the house, because you can choose how to decorate any space in the house. In a few clicks, you will choose the style or the furniture and decoration objects that you like and we will transform that living space.

Also this 2021 we have created a new space, The Studio, a warehouse in which the creative universes of Jessica Bataille will continue to grow ”.