The Founder
Melissa Charsette
Bitan
Founder & Creative Director · Maison Universelle
The Founder
Founder & Creative Director · Maison Universelle
An Introduction
I grew up in Delray Beach, Florida — one of five siblings, raised by a father who built homes and a mother with an instinctive eye for style. From the earliest age, I understood something most people spend years learning: that a thoughtfully crafted space doesn't just look beautiful — it changes how people feel inside it.
"The world's most exceptional spaces are not defined solely by luxury — but by their ability to feel personal, timeless, and deeply authentic."
That belief was confirmed everywhere I traveled — the Côte d'Azur, Monaco, Paris, Milan, Portofino, Greece, Switzerland, Portugal. In every extraordinary room I encountered, the common thread was never the price of the objects. It was the lived experience behind their selection.
Maison Universelle is the distillation of everything I have seen, learned, and felt across a life lived creatively. It exists to bring that intelligence — and that access — to the designers, architects, developers, and hospitality groups who build at the highest level.
Our Philosophy
"Curate Thoughtfully. Connect Meaningfully. Live Beautifully."— Melissa Charsette Bitan, Founder
The Journey
Raised in a home where construction and aesthetics were constants — a father who built spaces, a mother who understood them. The foundation of an eye.
From Florida to New York, and then to California. A decade-plus in the Bay Area running her own vocal studio, training singers from age 8 to 45 in R&B, jazz, and classical — while writing songs that remain a living part of who she is.
Moving to Los Angeles brought the fulfillment of a childhood dream: a degree from UCLA, auditioned for and earned through the music department. She later returned for UCLA's Architecture and Design Program — deepening the formal design vocabulary that had always lived intuitively within her.
Overseeing and remodeling the common areas of celebrated luxury high-rises in West Hollywood — translating design instinct into real built environments at the highest residential tier.
Deep immersion in the trade — cultivating lasting relationships with designers, architects, showrooms, and artisans across the United States and Europe. Including significant work introducing world-class European luxury textiles to the Santa Barbara design market for the first time, building an entirely new client base from the ground up.
The moment the lightbulb turned on. Every thread of her life — design, travel, music, beauty, human connection, and curatorial instinct — woven into one studio. Built entirely on her own terms.
Maison Universelle · Los Angeles · Est. 2024
Vision
What Drives This Work
Maison Universelle was not built to be a catalogue. It was built to be a trusted extension of the creative process — the resource that saves time, elevates outcomes, and brings the world's most exceptional making to the projects that deserve it.
Access to rare artisan work, materials, and objects from seven continents — each vetted for cultural integrity and design relevance.
Relationships built over years in the trade — with designers, manufacturers, showrooms, and master craftspeople who cannot be found through a search engine.
The belief, held since childhood, that extraordinary spaces change how people feel in them — and that the right object, in the right room, is never a small thing.
Whether you're sourcing for a single room or an entire property — Melissa works with a select number of clients at any time. Inquire to start.