A Victorian seaside villa in Hastings

Emma and David Mann’s seaside villa is an extension of their shop and a wonderful, evolving canvas. Feature Amy Maynard. Photographs Richard Gadsby

By Christianne Raymer

Published: Thursday, 20 April 2023 at 12:00 am

Emma and David Mann’s house in Hastings has both the feel of a quirky museum and that of a welcoming home. Visitors find it hard to decide between wandering the rooms gazing at the objects covering every surface or accepting the offer of a cup of tea and settling down by the fire.

It was during a spur-of-the-moment visit to trawl the town’s plentiful junk shops over a decade ago that the couple noticed the area’s beautiful housing stock. A few months later they had swapped their small home in west London for a vast four-bedroom Victorian villa by the sea.

‘We love the proportions of the house,’ says David, and Emma adds that it was the 12ft ceilings and large rooms that really sold it. ‘We are so lucky that lots of the original features are still here – the sash windows, ornate cornicing, ceiling roses and marble fireplaces.’

The couple met in London’s Shepherd’s Bush over 20 years ago, when they lived in neighbouring flats, and a mutual interest in interiors led to the perfect partnership. ‘It’s fortuitous that our passion for antiques indirectly brought us to this house,’ says Emma.

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In April 2015, when a black weatherboarded toilet block on the seafront came up for auction, the couple seized the chance to turn their love of collecting antiques into a business. The result is Flushed, a wittily named vintage store-cum-cafe not far from the house. The loos were ripped out and replaced with an eclectic mix of vintage art, fabric, books, bric-a-brac and furniture. Customers can also enjoy a cup of coffee and a slice of cake while they browse.

Since then, the house has become a revolving store room, with pieces coming and going. It does beg the question, though, don’t they end up getting attached to things they’ve bought for the shop? The answer is yes. ‘We buy stuff to sell in Flushed and store it at home. Emma puts a price tag on it and, if I like the piece, I take it off again!’ says David.

Living with a constantly shifting selection of paintings, religious and naval artefacts and antique furniture has become the norm for the couple’s two children, Harvey (18) and Milly (16). Their parents’ penchant for collectables has been woven into the fabric of their lives for as long as they can remember.

‘Whereas most children would come back from a holiday in France with their colouring books in their little rucksacks, we made our two carry small antiques,’ laughs Emma. ‘And when Harvey was a baby, David made him a mobile from a carved gilt phoenix and Sanderson fabric remnants.’ These days, he has graduated to a 19th-century Breton oak wardrobe.

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‘My dad and I used to read naval fiction, like the Hornblower series by CS Forester, and I love the sea, so I have lots of nautical memorabilia. Among my favourites is a collection of early 19th-century engravings of captains that are lining the hall and starting to creep into the bedroom.’

The religious artefacts that are dotted around the house were gathered many years earlier when they converted a redundant Grade I-listed church in Kent. Emma’s most treasured possessions are the ones that have been with the couple since the early days of their relationship. ‘David recently tried to take an ornamental brass box from the house to sell at the shop but I wouldn’t let him, because we bought it on a beach in India years ago and every time I look at it I think of that holiday,’ she says.

Now that they have the business, Emma and David have the perfect excuse to spend even more time at auction houses, fairs and flea markets and they love nothing more than spending hours browsing. ‘Even before we had the shop, we loved going to the fairs. It’s such a fascinating day out, even if you don’t end up buying anything. There is always so much to see,’ says David. ‘We both love the feeling of understated grandeur that antiques exude.’

"Victorian
The kilim pouffes and cushions in the sitting room are from the souks in Marrakesh. The gilt overmantel mirror is from Tinker & Toad, Heathfield.
Richard Gadsby
"Victorian
The house is an Italianate villa, built in 1879. It was reputedly the home of the notorious taxidermist George Bristow (1863–1947) who was behind the Hastings Rarities affair.
Richard Gadsby
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The clock and candelabra on the mantelpiece are from Clignancourt flea market, Paris. The couple found the fire bucket at Courthouse Street Yard in Hastings.
Richard Gadsby
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Vintage prints of seaside scenes collected from charity shops, flea markets and auctions line the hall walls.
Richard Gadsby
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The bedroom mantelpiece is home to clocks and candelabra amassed over the years from French dépôts-vente.
Richard Gadsby
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David’s early 19th-century prints of naval post-captains and admirals found in junk shops and reframed in mismatched antique frames.
Richard Gadsby
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Carved wooden columns from Cochin flea market, India stand sentry in the hallway. The hall table was handmade by David from half a Henri II-style French table with the top from a marble washstand.
Richard Gadsby
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The cherry wood Henri II dining table came from a dépôt-vente in Boulogne, and the candelabra and chandelier are from Amiens flea market.
Richard Gadsby
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The glass shop display cabinet is a wonderful way to store glassware and ceramics. It came from Eras of Style in Hurst Green. Propped on the floor, the oil of daffodils is from Franklin’s Antiques & Interiors, Portslade.
Richard Gadsby
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Antique glasses and beer steins from Amiens flea market.
Richard Gadsby
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The Medici print above the bed came from Antiques on Sea, St Leonards, and the sailing print is by Montague Dawson. The bedside table is Kashmiri, from Roberts Rummage, Hastings and David made the lamp base from an old table leg.
Richard Gadsby
"Victorian
David converted the bedroom mirror from an armoire door. A St Ives railway poster, from an antiques shop in Cornwall, hangs above a chintz-covered chair the couple inherited from David’s mother. The display of clocks and candelabra on the mantelpiece has been collected over the years from French flea markets and dépôts-vente.
Richard Gadsby
"Victorian
The Victorian chest of drawers is from RG Scott Furniture Mart in Margate. The print of Nelson was found in an antiques shop in Leominster and the Sea Scout hat is David’s, from when he was a child.
Richard Gadsby
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The Indian folding table on the upstairs landing came from Hastings Antiques Centre in St Leonards-on-Sea. A beautiful kantha throw from Ardingly antiques fair covers an old armchair.
Richard Gadsby
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The woodwork in the book-lined loo, with its school house lamp from Hoof Brocante in Brookland, is painted a cheerful green.
Richard Gadsby

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