{"id":18180,"date":"2023-01-18T12:06:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T11:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=39267"},"modified":"2023-01-18T13:36:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T12:36:40","slug":"an-antiques-dealers-18th-century-home-in-london","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/an-antiques-dealers-18th-century-home-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"An antiques dealer\u2019s 18th-century home in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Charlotte Packer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 18 January 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Antiques dealer Will Fisher can\u2019t pinpoint the exact moment his passion for antique chimney pieces began. But by the tender age of 12, he had bought, restored and resold his first fireplace. \u2018I must have been a bit of a pyromaniac,\u2019 he says, describing how at around the same age he also restored the fireplace in his bedroom, installing a grate and regularly lighting the fire.<\/p>\n

And in a lovely role-reversal that any child of antiques-loving parents will appreciate, Will frequently begged his parents (both of whom were Marxist teachers), to take him to visit stately homes<\/a>. Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, was a favourite and is the source of his abiding passion for all things Palladian.<\/p>\n

He also worked as a runner, which he loved. \u2018Runners are the lifeblood of the trade. They\u2019re single sole traders who \u201crun\u201d between antiques shops<\/a> and auction houses, independently buying and selling,\u2019 he explains, recalling the buzz. \u2018It was addictive and I\u2019ll never forget the first \u00a380 I made.\u2019 Although it was an object so awful he won\u2019t say what it was, \u2018but, God, the 80 quid was lovely.\u2019<\/p>\n

These days, business is conducted from a smart showroom on London\u2019s Pimlico Road, rather than the back of a van. Jamb, which he runs with his wife, Charlotte Freemantle, is renowned for its antique<\/a> English chimney pieces and its exquisite reproductions. Their home in Camberwell, south-east London, epitomises the company\u2019s elegant aesthetic. Will describes it as \u2018a faded country house in miniature\u2019.<\/p>\n

But nine years ago, when they moved in, the house was beyond faded. It was in a parlous state and \u2018very much the ugly duckling of the street\u2019. Charlotte was pregnant with their daughter Eliza, so they waited a year before embarking on a six-month renovation. The concept, says Will, \u2018was to completely alter the house in such a way that it felt as though nothing had been touched\u2019. To that end they opted for bare, unpainted boards and muted colours. \u2018It\u2019s a lazy man\u2019s way of doing things,\u2019 says Will. \u2018Make it look timeless and then you only have to do it once.\u2019<\/p>\n

Timeless it may be, but lazy it wasn\u2019t. The project took two and a half years, rather than six months. Work on the kitchen alone involved sourcing tiles that originated from the New York subway, via a New York reclamation yard<\/a>, which were sent back because they didn\u2019t have enough crackle in the glaze. Fortunately, a second, older, batch made the grade.<\/p>\n

Will also agonised over how best to lay the 18th-century Purbeck slabs on the floor \u2013 deciding on courses after much painstaking research, which involved dragging the family round numerous stately piles. \u2018I fell out with my wife, fell out with my neighbours and fell in love with my builder,\u2019 laughs Will, summing up.<\/p>\n

Despite his obsessive attention to detail in terms of materials and finishes, Will has taken a quietly anarchic approach to the way that they are deployed. \u2018It\u2019s an old clich\u00e9,\u2019 he says, \u2018but rules are there to be broken. And as long as it\u2019s not pretentious or try-hard, turning things around can read quite well.\u2019<\/p>\n

This can be as subtle as reversing the hierarchy of materials (pine floorboards upstairs, oak in the basement), or an unexpectedly dramatic touch, such as the fireplace in the dining room, which \u2018shouldn\u2019t really work proportionally,\u2019 says Will, yet somehow it \u2018makes\u2019 the space.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Will auctioned 500 of his pieces at Christie\u2019s \u2013 both from his home and business. \u2018I found myself wanting to sell everything, by the end I\u2019d have pulled out the kitchen sink if they\u2019d asked for it,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n

Once the wheels were in motion there was no going back, but it offered one big positive that any collector can empathise with: \u2018once it had all gone there was room for more. There is always something else to covet, to purchase.\u2019 So he was able to start again \u2013 finding new pieces that fitted his very specific look: beautiful antiques, elegant curiosities and, unsurprisingly, Georgian chimneypieces in every room.<\/p>\n

A self-confessed despot and perfectionist when it comes to all the decisions relating to the house, Will is surprisingly sanguine about mixing young children and priceless antiques. \u2018I\u2019ve given up entirely on trying to child-proof the house. What they don\u2019t destroy, they graffiti,\u2019 he sighs. Occasionally, however, the antiques retaliate. While mucking about with the 19th-century sawfish that resides in the corner of the sitting room, Monty dropped it on his foot and the bite marks necessitated a trip to A&E.<\/p>\n