A his n hers haven
The Victorian homage where both women and men know their place
Built by mayor who designed Burghley’s offices
STEPPING into The Gables, in the picture-postcard town of Stamford in Lincolnshire, is like being transported back in time. That’s because owner Guy Hayden has gone out of his way to present it – as much as possible – as it would have looked when the house was built in 1882.
The food industry executive, 59, wanted to recreate the original splendour of The Gables and, in particular how, in Victorian houses, there were different rooms for different sexes.
‘In the Victorian period you had male rooms and female rooms. So the drawing room would always be the female room – generally, it would have been a very light pastel colour. A masculine room would have been the dining room. The man of the house would host his business colleagues there – it would have been a drinking parlour.’
Guy had a head start when he came to his restoration, as his mother was an antiques dealer with a shop on Eton High Street. But if you think the interiors look more Georgian than Victorian, you’re not mistaken. Guy says this effect is on purpose, because many homes in the Victorian period would have still carried the furnishings and look of the previous Georgian years. ‘It was typical for a Victorian house to have Georgian furniture in it,’ says Guy, who lives at The Gables with his teacher wife Tricia, 60, and their 22-year-old daughter Emily who is about to start a master’s degree.
The house, which ranges over three storeys and is opposite Stamford’s St Martin’s Church, has many quirky features. ‘There are very few straight lines in the house; there are lots of little features, like the lions in the hallway and the stained glass.
‘When you look at the front door, you can see a little maid’s window from which she could tell the time from the church clock. Back in the day, watches and clocks were very expensive.’
Guy adds that when he had to replace some exterior bricks, he had to take into account the fact that the originals had been stained by steam from the trains that would run close to the property on their way in and out of Stamford station. But he says being close to the railway line has actually made the kitchen extension extra sturdy: ‘It will never fall down because it’s built on the railway track foundations, which go down about 20 feet!’
The double-fronted, Grade II listed Gables has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and seven f i replaces. I t was bought by Guy and Tricia when they moved to Stamford from Berkshire. It had been built by former Stamford mayor Joseph Corby, an architect who designed the estate offices for the nearby stately home Burghley House.
The couple are selling The Gables because they have another property in Norfolk and want to spend more time there. But, Guy says, they have ‘enjoyed every minute’ of their location in Stamford where ‘everything is in walking distance’ – as have their dogs, London and Poppy, who love nearby Stamford Meadows and Burghley Park. He adds: ‘As for my daughter, she went to Stamford School, so used to roll out of bed at 8.20, and be in school for 8.30!’