{"id":16406,"date":"2022-11-02T15:02:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T14:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=37061"},"modified":"2022-11-02T15:29:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T14:29:11","slug":"a-converted-victorian-pub-in-shoreditch","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-converted-victorian-pub-in-shoreditch\/","title":{"rendered":"A converted Victorian pub in Shoreditch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Katie Pike\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 02 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Owen Pacey isn\u2019t one to mince his words or to romanticise. He describes how he grew up as a \u2018street urchin\u2019, how he fell into the fireplace business after he was asked to strip a few pine numbers and realised he could make a bob or two, and how the transformation of his Shoreditch home was all \u2018trial and error\u2019. When asked what drew him to the property \u2013 which was, at the time, covered in bird excrement and located in what Owen describes as a \u2018grimy and gritty\u2019 part of town \u2013 he sums up: \u2018I just knew. It was a gut reaction.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The building was originally a Victorian<\/a> pub but its most recent incarnation was as offices in the 1980s. Since then it had laid empty, save for the pigeons that had taken ownership of what is now the kitchen. The roof was falling apart and the third floor could be categorised as derelict. There was no doubt that the building would need to be gutted and the interior carved from scratch.<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> Annie Sloan\u2019s colourful Victorian home<\/a><\/p>\n

On the plus side, this was 25 years ago and Shoreditch wasn\u2019t the hipster heartland that it is today \u2013 the price and space that it offered were great. The ground floor was ideal for Owen\u2019s already burgeoning business, which specialises in restored antique<\/a> and bespoke fireplaces (and also sells 20th-century lighting, mirrors and statuary), while the three floors above provided the bare bones of the living area.<\/p>\n

He would probably be the last to describe it as such but Owen has an eye. The interior has gone through various incarnations since he took it on, with the fireplaces \u2013 which range from elegant Georgian pieces to Gothic numbers \u2013 changing with almost the same casualness as other homeowners change their cushions. Today there\u2019s a bold swagger to it and a slight brutalist edge: all hard lines, dramatic artwork and gold accents.<\/p>\n

And for someone who owns an antiques business, it\u2019s all remarkably minimal. The key to this, says Owen, is not to fall in love with what you buy or else you might not be able to sell it. Those pieces that do make it up the stairs are rather remarkable. Favourites include a collection of 17th to 19th-century religious books, which were bought from a nun in Hertfordshire (naturally) and are now displayed on floor-to-ceiling shelves in the living room. \u2018One of my contacts told me about a convent that was being converted,\u2019 says Owen. \u2018I visited and offered the nun a price for half of their books. She wasn\u2019t a mug \u2013 she said she wanted three times that figure or nothing. I ended up paying too much but I needed them.\u2019<\/p>\n

You might also like<\/strong> restoring and decorating a Victorian B&B<\/a><\/p>\n

The 1970s Venini chandelier in the same room was a lucky find. \u2018I came across it in a box at an Italian flea market<\/a> six years ago,\u2019 he says. \u2018I paid \u20ac1,200 (\u00a3900) for it. The seller didn\u2019t realise what it was.\u2019 Other standout items in the house include a table designed by Coco Chanel and a late 1800s carved wood gilt bed, which has inspired a reproduction made and sold by La Maison London.<\/p>\n

Of course, Owen\u2019s fireplaces, lighting and statuary are big players in the interior and help give it its distinct feel. The designs lean to the unusual. Aside from the Venini chandelier<\/a>, there\u2019s the contemporary \u2018Elvis Fan\u2019 light by Luke Morgan, a 20th-century \u2018Spider\u2019 chandelier by Carl Muylle and a haunting 18th-century stone cherub\u2019s head. The look may have been \u2018trial and error\u2019 but it\u2019s certainly enchanting.<\/p>\n