EVERYTHING NEW IS OLD AGAIN

ANTIQUES DEALER ATHOL SALTER HAS CREATED A SERENE HAVEN FROM A BLAND PROJECT HOME IN NSW’S SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS.

At antique dealer Athol Salter’s Southern Highlands home, all the furniture and artwork have a story to tell.

IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT, but the newest thing in Athol Salter’s house may very well be the house itself. “It was built in the ’80s as a project home,” says Athol, an antiques dealer and co-owner of the legendary Dirty Janes antique markets in Bowral and Canberra. (His colleague in the business is his daughter Jane Crowley, whose house featured in the February 2021 issue of Country Style.)

“That wasn’t a very good time for house building,” Athol adds. “It had aluminium windows and was a sandstock-y, bricky-looking thing with a tiled roof. The only reason I bought it was because it’s right next door to my daughter and her family.”

That was about four years ago, and these days you’d never know The Stables was such a recent – and once unattractive – construction. With its pared-back palette, characterful period windows and carefully edited selection of antique pieces, it could quite easily be mistaken for the historic stables its new name suggests. “That was cheating,” Athol admits. “The sandstone paving stones out the front came from stables originally, so I thought, why not? And it does look like stables, with the two gables and the cupola on top.”

An old hand at house-flipping, Athol set about an extensive renovation – only this time he’s planning to stay. Over the course of a year, he renewed the roof, reclad the exterior and reworked the floor plan to eliminate a crooked hallway (“I don’t believe in hallways; they just take up space”).

He also moved the garage from the front to the side, removing a “mean little front porch that’s now a broom cupboard – so you can imagine how small it was”; removed internal walls, opening up the living area; redid the kitchen, bathroom and laundry – and, as befits his often chilly Bowral location, insulated the whole place for year-round cosiness. The addition of the three antique, arched windows was crucial in lifting the home from its builders’-grade blandness: “Janey bought those for me in Europe – she sent me a photo and said, ‘Will these do?’ and I said, ‘They’ll do nicely,’” Athol says.

As an established antiques dealer, Athol has developed a distinctive aesthetic. “It’s quite pulled-back,” he says. “Simple and plain.” White walls and a low-contrast palette >

“That’s what I do very well: rescuing things.”

“I like things to blend together. I like to know what I’m looking at and not get distracted by dark colours.”

are his signature. “I can’t cope with strong, vibrant colours,” he explains. “I like things to blend together, not to stand out. I like to know what I’m looking at and not get distracted by dark colours.” In other words, the whole house is a backdrop for those beautiful antiques.

With his pick of the pieces that stallholders bring to sell at Dirty Janes, as well as from the containers that regularly arrive from Europe, Athol’s house is a paean to the useful and decorative qualities of carefully chosen antiques. “Everything that goes into the house has to be worn out, nicely weathered,” says Athol. “A bit like me!”

His selection process is instinctive: “I follow my nose.” And his nose has led him to some extraordinary items. “There’s a portrait of a gentleman above the fireplace – we call him The Guv’nor,” recounts Athol. “I bought him >

“Everything that goes into the house has to be worn out, nicely weathered… a bit like me!”

without a frame, at an auction in Melbourne about

45 years ago. A month or two later, I went to England

– I used to go quite frequently. I went to the shipper’s over there, and on the rubbish heap was a big, tatty old gilt frame. I thought, ‘That looks as if it just might fit The Guv’nor.’ I brought it home, put the picture in and it fitted perfectly. Strange, I thought. Then I saw the nail holes all matched. So I twigged that the shipper had sent a load out to the auctioneer’s in Melbourne, and he’d sent out the picture, and thrown the frame away.”

Athol takes a moment to savour the serendipity. “They’d been together for a long time – the picture is probably from the early 1800s – and now they’re back together again,” he says. “It’s nothing terribly special, but I just enjoy having rescued it. That’s what I do very well: rescuing things.”

And it’s clear that his talent extends to houses, as well as things. From a once-uninspiring, unloved building, Athol has crafted an elegant backdrop perfectly calibrated to best display his precious objects. The house itself is the frame rescued from a dump. Look: the picture fits perfectly.

For more antique finds, visit dirtyjanes.com

The sandstone paving stones came from an old stables. FACING PAGE The French antique table “has had a lot of love and wear and tear,” says Athol. “And it just fits there nicely.”

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE The gingham sofa was originally a French day bed that Athol bought from a Dirty Janes stallholder. “The yellow is soft enough that it doesn’t glare at you – it just blends. And it’s comfortable; that’s the main thing,” he says; the wooden settle, bought from a friend in Bowral, came from Ireland; the framed portrait paintings reflect Athol’s appreciation for period-style furnishings. FACING PAGE, FROM TOP Athol enjoys sourcing interesting antiques with stories to tell; it took 12 months, but the whole roof and exterior of the house were updated and reclad.

Athol prefers white walls and a “simple, plain, pulled-back” aesthetic. A portrait he’s named The Guv’nor holds court over the sitting room.

The kitchen was bought at a local garage sale. The marble behind the sink is the top of an old table, and the plates are antique Spode from England. FACING PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT The arched window brings in light; after missing out on this French sideboard at auction in England, Athol later found it for sale in Sydney. “I was tickled to bits,” he says; simple touches of colour add freshness and light.

CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT Athol put sisal flooring in because it’s warm, doesn’t fade in the sun, and feels good underfoot. “I don’t put rugs on top because that cuts the rooms up,” he explains; the bedroom furniture is understated and practical; gentle lamplight adds softness to each room.