{"id":10852,"date":"2022-05-15T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T08:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=7552"},"modified":"2022-05-15T10:21:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-15T08:21:10","slug":"inside-the-georgian-home-of-jim-and-chloe-read","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/inside-the-georgian-home-of-jim-and-chloe-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Georgian home of Jim and Chloe Read"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Joe Feehily\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 15 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Imagine a department store that exclusively sold antique<\/a> and vintage<\/a> pieces. Where prices were reasonable and the quality was high and everything was laid out in an orderly, contemporary, pleasing way. Just such an emporium is what Jim and Chloe Read dream about creating \u2013 that is, if they weren\u2019t in the clocks<\/a> and watches<\/a> business.<\/p>\n

In 1991 the couple founded Newgate Clocks<\/a> \u2013 the company synonymous with vintage-inspired, often industrial and oversized clocks and, more recently, watches. But, with both of their parents working in the antiques business while they were growing up, Jim and Chloe have a joint affinity with the world of antiques.<\/p>\n

\u2018We both remember coming home to discover chests that hadn\u2019t been unlocked for decades, filled with treasures inside,\u2019 says Jim. \u2018Chloe\u2019s parents were dealers at Alfies Antique Market, while my dad still has a shop in Oswestry. And my mum owned a museum of childhood, filled with a 20,000-piece collection of toys, games and children\u2019s clothing. When it was closed, I used to go in and play behind the red rope.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Growing up surrounded by antiques often goes hand in hand with living in a house filled with old pieces as an adult, but Jim and Chloe\u2019s previous home was cool and contemporary, with white walls and a scant amount of furniture. \u2018After moving from there, we both had a hunger to return to a more antiques-y feel,\u2019 says Jim.<\/p>\n

And so, in their current home \u2013 a typically Georgian<\/a> building, striking in its exterior symmetry \u2013 they fully embraced antiques. \u2018This was our blank slate where we could start again,\u2019 says Jim. \u2018We bought most of the furniture specially for the house. It was all relatively inexpensive as big brown pieces of furniture aren\u2019t as costly as they have been.\u2019<\/p>\n

The house had originally been built as a vicarage although it had never been used as such. Later, during the war, it became a general hospital and after that it was primarily used as a maternity hospital. In what is now the games room, there are still hospital bed numbers screwed to the floorboards as well as small holes that would have been used to secure screens.<\/p>\n

Because of its heritage, says Jim, 1940s furniture feels at home here. \u2018Furniture from this era is well made and robust,\u2019 he says. \u2018I like the simplicity of the design and the patina<\/a> of the oak. Plus, it costs a fraction of anything new.\u2019<\/p>\n