From new to old with style

Catharine and Leigh Spooner have two of the toilets in their home and the twin Crappers – billed as the "most authentic period style WCs in the world" are testament to their obsessive approach to the Real McCoy.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to make a new house look old," says Catharine, who still can't quite believe they are living in a new-build. The couple's original plan was to turn two tumbledown farm cottages, near Hovingham in the Howardian Hills, into a family home. But when they stripped them back, they realised that plan

was impossible.

"By the time we'd got back to the four walls, we realised the back walls were structurally unsound," says Catharine. "So we applied to build from scratch. It certainly wasn't what we expected to do."

Determined to have their dream "old" home full of character and period features, they started by using the stone from the cottages to build the "new" house. With just the shell erected, Leigh and Catherine began the project management using their skill and expertise and some great local tradespeople.

Leigh is an architectural restoration expert and Catherine shares his love of everything old. Such is their antipathy to the new and sometimes flimsy, they are one of the few to leave Ikea empty-handed.

The couple, who have a son Alfie, eight, and daughter Bea, six, prefer to shop in salvage and reclamation yards, antique shops, on eBay and with small, specialist firms. Among their finds are reproduction Bakelite light switches from Bromleigh's. "The electricians couldn't believe it. They said, 'We usually take these out, not put them in', but they are all made to today's safety standards," says Catharine.

One of the biggest challenges was to create a staircase to cover the three floors. "The wrong staircase can ruin a house, so we knew we had to find the right design and we were lucky to find the most amazing craftsman in Pascal from Silvanus in York.

"What he's created is beautiful," says Catharine. "We've thought about everything and we were obsessive. We didn't make things easy for ourselves."

The lights in the kitchen are from three separate sources. The lamps are antique, the wires and the fittings are from two different companies. Desperate to use a beautiful Art Deco marble top for the house bathroom, they spent hours on the phone trying to find two basins to fit the pre-cut holes. Villeroy and Boch finally came up trumps.

"We were also keen not to have straight edges or plasterboard walls as the house would have looked like a square box. So we had all the edges round the windows rounded and we plastered straight on to the stone and then skimmed," says Catharine. "We also wanted the beams in the kitchen narrow and close together as they are in an old farmhouse, but building regulations officers weren't too happy. We managed in the end by agreeing to paint them with six layers of fire-proof paint.

"We did the same with the doors, too. That's a lot of painting."

Fortunately, both she and Leigh are hands-on. Both did lots of painting with Farrow and Ball's finest and curtain maker Catharine made most of the soft furnishings. Leigh built the kitchen units, fitted out the pantry and fitted the stone fireplace in the sitting room.

"He is so incredibly talented at what he does and you can see that everywhere in the house. He brought the fireplace home in pieces from a reclamation yard and it looked like nothing, but it looks fantastic in. He has an amazing eye," says Catharine.

The six-bedroom property is full of pre-loved furniture and eclectic bits and bobs inherited from family and bought from antiques shops and fairs.

The Edwardian sofas have been re-sprung and recovered, an old trunk has been given a glass top to make a coffee table.

"We love the fact that older things hold their value and are better quality than anything you can buy new for the same price. They have the patina of age and they've seen so much history," says Catharine.

"The only thing we have learnt not to buy old is sanitary ware because it invariably has chips and cracks and people don't like the idea of it."

The exception is the decorated sink in the downstairs cloakroom.

"That was a Newark find and I had to have it. It's in mint condition, too."

Building and decorating the house, together with the garage with workshop above and the conversion of a cow shed into a holiday let, has taken six years in total. And now they've finally finished, the Spooners have surprised everyone by deciding to sell.

"I can barely believe it myself, but I discovered that I love running the holiday cottage and I want to expand to have more holiday lets.

"There isn't scope with planning regulations to do that here and that's the only reason we're looking for somewhere else," says Catharine.

"We'll miss it, but we won't forget it. It has been the ultimate challenge.

"Making a new old house has taken a lot of thought and hard work.

"The biggest compliment is when people express surprise when they hear it's only six years old."

Cold Harbour House is for sale with Blenkin and Co for 1.25m.

Tel: 01904 671 672, www.blenkinandco.com

[email protected]

Catharine and Leigh's useful contacts:

Staircase: Silvanus Interiors tel: 01904 470909, www.silvanus-interiors.co.uk

Bespoke windows and doors: Chris Carr, Malton, tel: 01653 690200

Specialist joinery: Keith Burgess, York, tel: 07900 954051

Garage builders: D&J Developments, (Dan Turnbull), tel: 01904 337820, 07739 902018

Architectural items: White House Farm Antiques, Easingwold, tel: 01347 821479

Architectural restoration, restoring period features: Leigh Spooner, tel: 01347 889364

Light switches and fittings: Bromleigh's, tel: 01208 79490, www.bromleighs.com

WC and taps: Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd, tel: 01789 450522, www.thomas-crapper.com

Farrow & Ball colour consultant: Victoria Rose, tel: 01439 748212,

www.victoriaroseinteriors.co.uk

Curtains and soft furnishings: Catharine Spooner, tel: 01347 889364.

YP MAG 14/8/10