TIMELESS ELEGANCE

With their air for mixing old and new, Kath and Stephen Hazell’s house re ects their lifelong passion for French antiques and love of Georgian architecture

Charming French antiques in a stylish Regency villa

Kath and Stephen Hazell had long admired the austere elegance of the Regency-style residence opposite their old house in York. ‘ I always thought it was beautiful,’ says Stephen, who’d had his eye on it for 20 years or more. ‘It had been turned into ofices at some point in the Sixties, but I always felt it should be a home rather than a commercial building,’ he says. The property also had a lovely garden, which is something of a rarity in the middle of a city like York. So, four years ago, when it finally came onto the market, Kath and Stephen were quick to put in an offer.

Although the house had been converted into a warren of poky rooms and narrow corridors, the space had been very simply divided. ‘It was easy to see how it once would have looked,’ says Kath, who was delighted to ! nd the impressive Regency- era entrance hall, with its arched ceiling, marble %oor and symmetrical recesses – just as it would have been in 1830. Similarly, despite the fact that a number of ! replaces had been removed over the years, the fabric of the building, including sash windows and cornices, had survived intact.

The renovation took six months and involved installing a new kitchen, three bathrooms and reinstating a few period details. ‘ We found one of the original ! replaces and a beautiful old sink in the cellar,’ says Kath, adding that they didn’t have to look much further a !eld to ! nd ! replaces for the rest of the house: several of the ! re surrounds came from East Yorkshire a "er a woman unearthed them during a clear- out of an ancient farm building.

‘ Everything we’ve done has been to enhance the house and all its beautiful features,’ says Kath, who describes how they stumbled across the spectacular panelling in the drawing room while driving through the French countryside. ‘It was stacked against an old barn in a village outside Rouen,’ she recalls. ‘ The owner’s father had been a cabinetmaker, and they were emptying out his workshop.’ Stephen made an offer and the

panelling came home with them. It was then painstakingly fitted, painted and glazed by their friend, artist and paint- effects specialist, Mark Ibson. ‘ It doesn’t completely match, but you have to be looking quite hard to see the imperfections,’ says Kath.

The couple’s passion for French furniture began 25 years ago, when Stephen stripped out and renovated a house in the Pyrenees. As well as working on the property, he sold some of its contents to friends. ‘ It was such a satisfying experience that I started to look for more lovely old furniture to restore and sell,’ he says, explaining that this was how the couple’s business, The French House, was born.

Based in York, with an off-shoot in London, their showroom is now a magnet for devotees of faded French grandeur. Both Kath and Stephen admit that pieces they buy for the shop often ‘stray’ into their home. Their dining table, for instance, was originally sourced for the business but fitted so perfectly in the space that they decided to keep it. ‘ We just love its character and the sense of history that comes with old pieces of furniture like this,’ says Kath.

As you may expect, their love of the particular character and elegance of French furniture has resulted in an

intriguing mix of cross- Channel in uences in their home. This is most evident in the kitchen, where the aforementioned table and a huge painted cupboard from France happily coexist with a selection of very English Windsor chairs that the couple have collected over the years. ‘ It does become very addictive,’ says Kath. ‘And I have a rule that, if Stephen comes back from France with something for the house, then another piece of furniture has to go. We can’t keep everything for ourselves.’

The Gallic in uence continues upstairs, where bedrooms are furnished with ornate beds, armoires and mismatched side tables, all from across the Channel. Walls are hung with vintage shop signage, antique prints and modern paintings. ‘ When it comes to interiors, we don’t follow rules,’ says Kath, and she admits that, while their preference may be for French antiques, in reality they buy what they like. ‘Choose things that please you because of their shape, colour or style, and there’ll be an underlying link that helps it fall into place,’ she says. Her own home, with its blend of French elegance and Regency restraint, is testament to that.

Bedrooms are furnished with ornate beds, armoires and mismatched side tables, all from across the Channel.