ALL IN THE FAMILY

Coral and Lesley’s eclectic and colourful 19th- century home

When Coral Miles watches television programmes like Escape to the Chateau, she can’t help smiling. ‘ That has always been my life,’ she says, explaining that, as a child, her family moved to France when her parents bought an old convent in Bri!any. In the years that followed, her mother Lesley went on to restore several more houses in Bri!any and elsewhere in France, including Paris and the Loire Valley. Then, 15 years ago, she and Coral found this atmospheric manor house in the Loire, which was built in the 1850s.

Once a grand nobleman’s house, it had fallen into disrepair a "er years of inheritance disputes. ‘ It was a rare opportunity to restore a traditional house with really beautiful features,’ Coral explains, adding that some of those features are even older than the house itself. In the mid 20th century, the house was owned by a master stonemason who worked on restoring historic buildings in the area. ‘Any pieces that were no longer wanted he kept for himself and put into this house,’ she says. ‘And he had a good eye.’ The same might be said for

Coral and her mother, who between them have ! lled the house with an eclectic array of antiques that enhance the character of the house. And, in doing so, they are following in a family tradition. ‘ My grandmother was an antiques dealer, a true eccentric who ran a shop in London’s Blackheath in the 1960s,’ says Coral. ‘She would sleep fully dressed at the wheel of her car, so she was ready to set o" to sales at the crack of dawn.’

Coral has clearly inherited both that passion for antiques as well as the love of the chase and she is a regular at the local salerooms, brocantes and #ea markets, several of which are held along the banks of the river. ‘ You can spend hours looking for treasures and then enjoy oysters and a crisp white wine at a riverside cafe,’ she says.

The fruits of these trips ! ll the house: everywhere one looks there are interesting collections. In the

ABOVE Coral and her mother Lesley. FACING PAGE A bronze boule de gui chandelier from the 1900s with Murano glass shades illuminates the marble-floored entrance hall. Part of their collection of blue china, including Wedgwood, Spode and Royal Cauldon dishes and ginger jars, is displayed on the shelf over a Gothic-style buffet bought at a local antiques fair.

LEFT Coral and Lesley’s 1850s manor in the Loire. The gardens had been neglected, but Coral is gradually restoring the original planting. RIGHT Green glassware ranges from Victorian apothecary bottles to 20th-century chemists’ jars, some with blue stoppers. They are proving increasingly hard to find, says Coral.

Antique Persian rugs add colour and warmth under foot in the sunlit library. One half of the room is lined with books, the other is papered in Sanderson’s Sicilian Lions wallpaper, which echoes the tones of the rugs and complements the sofas.

ABOVE & BELOW RIGHT The handsome carved limestone fireplace is older than the house, installed by a previous owner. It is home to a17th-century copper fish kettle filled with orchids. The castiron enamelled Art Deco Deville woodburner came from a local antiques dealer and the antique mirror is a family heirloom.

ABOVE Coral and Lesley’s three dachshunds – Joris, Pushkin and Prufrock – sunning themselves on an antique rug in the dining room.