FANCY A LOO WITH A VIEW?
Antiques are back in fashion and they make striking features in modern homes, says Frances Childs
PUnS have been flowing thick and fast in the Yorkshire Dales, as a former toilet block overlooking an iconic waterfall comes up for sale this month.
The tiny stone building, on the banks of the Aysgarth Falls, is attractive — and, according to agents Robin Jessop, you do not need to be, well, flushed to buy it, as the price tag is just £8,000. For public convenience, and because this is no bogstandard sale, the property is being sold at auction, with no chain involved. That’s the puns over with — promise. At barely 100 sq ft in size, the one-time lavatory block is too small to provide conventional accommodation but, subject to planning permission, could be converted into a camping barn or studio for an artist or photographer who should be inspired by the unique riverside location. Alternatively, it could be used for storage space by one of the villagers.
‘Renovating the block will require some imagination,’ says Tim gower, of Robin Jessop. ‘ But even tiny properties can be quite versatile. We sold a private recreational barn which has since been turned into an artist’s studio.
‘Aysgarth is in a national park, so getting planning permission for any major redevelopment of the site would be difficult, but the new owners would enjoy fishing rights from day one. There is also the space to build a small terrace garden on the roof.’
it is the views of the falls that will whet buyers’ appetites. Ask any agent and they will tell you that views sell properties as much as the properties themselves.
‘nearly two-thirds of the respondents to our prime Buyers survey cited a good view as an important attribute in a home,’ says Andrew Rome, at Knight Frank. ‘Everyone likes the idea of being able to relax and take in a wonderful vista. good views add cachet to a property and make it stand out from the crowd. They can also add a significant premium to the value.’
it is no exaggeration to say that they can make house-hunters fall in love with a property. They stop sizing up the inside of the house, checking out the beds, radiators and light fittings and other banalities, take a peep out of the window and are smitten. in my own case, what first drew me to my present house in oxford was the sight of the Radcliffe observatory from the bathroom window. it was so glorious that i put in an offer within hours. only months after i had bought the property did i realise my mistake. As one of my friends pointed out, if i could see the observatory from my bathroom, then the people working in the observatory could see me — and they were the ones with the telescopes. Different views naturally appeal to different types of house-hunter. For a cricket fan, there could be no more prized piece of real estate than a balcony overlooking Lord’s or the oval. Football fans are the same. At the new Wembley park development, within a few yards of the stadium and with views thrown in, Tipi ( tipi.london) will soon be offering more than 6,000 new homes to rent, with prices starting at £1,650 per month for a onebedroom apartment. Who needs the Taj Mahal when you can see Wembley from your kitchen window? For others, it is the opportunity to live in a property with vistas of the British countryside that sets the pulse racing. For a crowded island, we still boast an extraordinary number of rooms with a view.
THE former toilet block, for which offers over £8,000 are invited, is on the market with Robin Jessop (robinjessop. co.uk) and is being sold at public auction at 6pm, April 10, at the Allerton Court Hotel, Northallerton, under the auspices of Hethertons solicitors (hethertons.co.uk).
The past can be a comfort. Perhaps that’s why we spend weekends wandering around stately homes and evenings glued to series like Lucy Worsley’s The First Georgians, or Antiques Uncovered.
Four million of us are members of the National Trust. Proving we just can’t get enough of Regency bookcases, Jacobean oak chests and Victorian dining tables.
how strange then that for the past 20 years, our own interiors have been relentlessly minimalist — inspired by pared back, flat-pack, mass produced furniture.
‘The bottom fell out of the antiques market in the early 2000s,’ says interior designer and antiques and fine art consultant Caroline de Cabarrus ( hotspur
design.com). ‘Prices during the 1990s had been pushed to unsustainably high levels, and then there was a reaction against what was seen as overly intricate antique furniture. Minimalism was everywhere.’
The market, however, is finally showing signs of a slow recovery. ‘There is a growing interest in antiques. People are beginning to recognise that you can buy beautiful, hand-crafted furniture for a price that compares very well to a mass produced machinemade piece,’ says de Cabarrus.
And it’s not only a resurgence of interest in the quirky and unique that’s driving the trend towards Georgian writing desks and fin de siecle dining chairs; antiques are also kind to the environment.
‘Of course, many companies only use sustainable wood, but illegal logging continues, with all the terrible consequences for our rainforests and eco system that entails,’ says de Cabarrus. As
WORRies about carbon footprint intensify, antiques offer an obvious solution to the problem of furnishing your home in a responsible and ecofriendly way.
But can modern interiors really showcase antiques? And if so, how? The trick, according to interior designer Amanda Ransom, ( amandaransom. com) who specialises in historic interiors, is to buy something you love and then mix and match it with pieces that you already own.
‘have fun browsing,’ she advises. ‘Go to auctions like Dreweatts in Newbury ( dreweatts. com) and explore the lots on offer. if you love it, buy it. Antiques have a fascinating story to tell. i look at a delicately carved footstool and wonder what the craftsman who made it was thinking, what his life was like.’
Antiques warehouses such as The Blanchard Collective, near hungerford ( blanchard collective.com), bring dealers and the public together.
Margaret Riordan, who runs the collective of 20 dealers, says she’s seen an increase in younger buyers over the past couple of years.
‘A piece of quality furniture will look beautiful anywhere,’ she says. ‘You don’t need to fill your home with antiques. One or two statement pieces will always look striking.’
Garden furniture, says Riordan, is selling especially well at the moment. Decorative pieces like an early 20th century wrought iron three-fold screen (£1,450) create a focal point in a conservatory or patio and are built to withstand the test of time.
One of the reasons that the minimalist look became so ubiquitous was the shrinking size of the average home. in 2014, according to research carried out by the University of Cambridge, the average size of a newbuild home was 76 sq m.
With space at such a premium, multi- tasking furniture is a necessity and older furniture is up to the job. The Ottoman, a Victorian favourite, works as a coffee table, as well as seating and storage. Try the english 19th century mahogany ottoman, £650, lorfordsantiques.com.
Likewise, a monks bench will do service as a table, seating or storage. Antiques Atlas has an oak linen fold monks bench for £495, antiques-atlas.com. Ottomans, monks benches, bookcases and armoires are all produced by high street stores, so how can an amateur tell an original from a replica knocked up three weeks ago? ‘Look for imperfections,’ says Amanda Ransom. ‘Replicas will be slightly too perfect. The varnish on replicas might have an over orange hue; on genuine antiques you’ll often see the wood coming through.’ in reality, though, she says, you can’t always tell unless you’re an expert so don’t overpay, especially on your first few purchases. Auctions such as Dreweatts or sworders ( sworders.co.uk) are good hunting grounds but you can browse online, too, via websites such as selling antiques. co.uk and antiquesatlas. com, where thousands of items are listed. You can pick up a mahogany bureau/bookcase circa 1780 from Antiques Atlas for £535 and Lorfords is offering a late 19th century mahogany cabinet with Carrara marble top for £950. Meanwhile, markets such as Alfies Antiques in Marylebone, selling everything from art deco mirrors to 18th century etchings, are still the perfect place to browse away an afternoon.