{"id":13082,"date":"2022-07-19T09:30:27","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T07:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=32235"},"modified":"2022-07-19T09:52:11","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T07:52:11","slug":"an-18th-century-gamekeepers-cottage-in-norfolk","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/an-18th-century-gamekeepers-cottage-in-norfolk\/","title":{"rendered":"An 18th-century gamekeeper\u2019s cottage in Norfolk"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Celia Rufey\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Historic French textiles and furniture are the essential backdrop to any place that Nicole Fabre calls home. And if her delectable accent gives the impression she is a recent arrival on this side of the Channel, it does not tell the truth.<\/p>\n

Nicole fell in love with England when she moved here as a student in the late 1960s, and has lived here ever since. She first came to the notice of interior designers and lovers of antique textiles<\/a> when she opened a shop on the King\u2019s Road, London in 1993. Here she sold the finest 18th-century French textiles to collectors<\/a> and museums, and to textile companies who bought the designs in order to copy them.<\/p>\n

At that stage, Nicole had no intention of printing her own collection, but that changed when people in the business assured her that with her knowledge of historic dyes and printing techniques, no one could do it better. Thus, Nicole Fabre Designs was born and allowed her to leave London and organise the business from Norfolk. Nicole was renting in 2012 when she set out to find a house that would be a better fit. It was not a matter of size or even style for her, but of location. It had to be quiet and close to nature.<\/p>\n

The cottage she found exactly matched her brief. Down a track on the edge of a landed estate, Nicole describes her first viewing as a decisive moment, \u2018I had to have it,\u2019 she declares. \u2018There is woodland across the track, an acre of land, two ponds, and I can play very loud classical music without disturbing anyone,\u2019 she says. There was certainly nothing French about the architecture of the cottage to suggest an obvious match with Nicole\u2019s antique furniture, or to anticipate how she might marry the two.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> a colourful Cotswolds cottage<\/a><\/p>\n

She had viewed the cottage when it was empty, was pleased with the layout but could see that her mainly 18th-century French furniture was not going to relate happily to the walls painted throughout in the then ubiquitous beige. She knew the right choice of wall colour was crucial to making these beloved antiques<\/a> sit comfortably in an English cottage.<\/p>\n

\u2018Although I am a classicist, I knew I had to set up a relationship with the more contemporary simplicity of the space, with its bare boarded floor. I didn\u2019t want white walls so I chose a paint I thought would give a shade between French and Swedish grey, but it was too dark. So I worked with the painter to lighten it by degrees until we reached what we now know as Nicole\u2019s Grey. It is a perfect backdrop for antique French furniture and fabrics, and I have used it on the walls of every room except the hall.\u2019<\/p>\n

Equal discipline was exercised in tackling the issue of how her important furniture would be positioned in these cottage rooms. \u2018I drew a floor plan of the living area and cut out paper to match the size of each piece of furniture. Then I moved the furniture around on the plan and, when the day came to move in, I knew exactly where everything should go.\u2019<\/p>\n

Nicole entertains frequently and her plan also specified the purchase of an extendable dining table in a specific width to seat at least eight guests. She has another extension leaf stored for larger parties. Tablecloths are made to size in her own linens. \u2018I set the table the English way, forks laid with tines pointing up, but this is considered impolite in France, so when I have French guests I have to turn the forks over!\u2019<\/p>\n