French interiors: an antiques-filled manor house in Loire

By Jo Leevers

Published: Tuesday, 05 April 2022 at 12:00 am

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 Brittany. In the years that followed, her mother Lesley went on to restore several more houses in Brittany 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 after 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.’

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The same might be said for Coral and her mother, who between them have filled 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 off 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 flea 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.

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The fruits of these trips fill the house: everywhere one looks there are interesting collections. In the living room a dazzling array of antique green glassware fills the mantelpiece. The collection was started by her grandmother and has been continued by Coral. It includes 19th-century apothecary bottles and 20th-century chemists’ jars, some with blue glass stoppers added for decoration.

The kitchen walls and a high shelf in the hall are home to blue-and-white ceramics from Wedgwood, Spode and Limoges, along with a few German and Dutch pieces. Some items are in daily use but many are too fragile, so are just for display. Coral’s devotion to fine china started young, when, at the age of 18, she brought back an entire Lomonosov tea service from a school trip to St Petersburg. ‘I managed to cram it into my hand luggage, along with a huge jar of Russian gherkins,’ she recalls.

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Antique Persian rugs are another passion, and they have been put to good use throughout the house. ‘They give a richness to a room and are soft to walk on,’ Coral says, adding that she finds it ‘restful’ to sit and gaze at the intricate patterns. ‘There is so much detail to find in them.’

Most striking of all is the collection of butterflies that fills the walls of the dining room. It was put together by Coral’s great-uncle, an entomologist who travelled the world documenting species. Originally hidden away in dark cases, Coral mounted the traysso they can be enjoyed. Despite being surrounded by so many wonderful antiques, Coral maintains that collecting is not simply about the desire to own things. ‘It’s about appreciating them,’ she says. ‘The trouble is, once you’ve started or inherited a collection, it’s hard to stop adding to it…’

As with the house, the garden was sadly neglected but, having researched its original planting, Coral has worked hard on its restoration. It is now recognised by the French state and is open to the public alongside famous neighbours such as Château d’Ussé and Château de Villandry. Coral and Lesley’s latest project is a barn conversion for visitors in which they host workshops with a focus on garden design and creative pursuits.

For courses and stays, visit englishmadeinfrance.com

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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.
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Coral and Lesley’s 1850s manor in the Loire. The gardens had been neglected, but Coral is gradually restoring the original planting.
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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.
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Coral and her mother Lesley.
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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.
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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 cast- iron enamelled Art Deco Deville woodburner came from a local antiques dealer and the antique mirror is a family heirloom.
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Coral and Lesley’s three dachshunds – Joris, Pushkin and Prufrock – sunning themselves on an antique rug in the dining room.
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The library lined with books.
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An impressive collection of green glassware, which was started by Coral’s grandmother, continues to grow today. Throughout the house, kitchen containers are used as decorative planters, such as the zinc fish kettle on an antique folding games table. The armchairs were bought in a Belgian antiques market and reupholstered.
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Much of the art in the house is by Lesley, including this sculpture, which is a meditation on female deities.
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Traditional terracotta tiles cover the kitchen floor. The paint on the walls was mixed specially and is the perfect foil for Coral and Lesley’s collection of blue-and-white china. Plate racks hold more of their collection of china platters that are too fragile to use. The table is a Victorian library desk that Lesley bought in London.
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‘It’s proof that blue and green should always be seen,’ says Coral. The plates above the cooker are Sarreguemines’ Rouen and Spode’s Aviary.
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A collection of antique candlesticks fills the console table behind the sofa in the dining room. When the candles are lit, they create a magical room divider.
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The dining room was once the wine pressing room and its 4m-high walls have been whitewashed and the ceiling beams exposed to give it a more rustic feel than the rest of the house. The walnut table has been in the family for many years. Collections in this room include silver and brass candlesticks, as well as the framed butterflies, which belonged to Coral’s great-uncle.
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In her bedroom, Coral played to the height of the pitched ceiling, placing a Venetian ebonised and gilt baroque console in the centre. The black and white portraits of her parents are by Lesley.
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Coral has hung striped cotton from the pitched roof to resemble a canopy. The wrought-iron bed belonged to her antiques-dealing grandmother.
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A guest bedroom in the converted barn has a more modern feel, with a Swedish four-poster bed. The light is by Jan Plecháč and Henry Wielgus, available from The Conran Shop.
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A 1970s daybed, in the style of Mies van der Rohe’s MR chaise.
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The guest en suite features a vintage roll-top bath, which had to be winched in through a window. It is paired with modern hexagonal tiles.