Traditional meets the eye-poppingly modern at Robert Sheffield's stately home Sutton Park this Christmas

Originally built by a wealthy York lawyer as a nine-bedroom “pleasure villa”, Robert describes the house as “a stately home that has been shrunk in the wash”. He lives there with his partner Ellen, an actor, and their baby daughter Clementine and says: “I thought I might miss living in London but I absolutely love it here. Even if I go down to the City for meetings, I’ll get the train back here rather than stay over if I can.”

Robert, 37, swapped careers to pursue his passion for contemporary art and now he and his business partner, Linton Wang, run art agency Sheffield & Wang. Promoting contemporary and conceptual artists and helping wealthy clients to build their collections is something he excels at thanks to his enthusiasm for the works, his likeability and a rare gift of imparting the meaning of art that is non-conformist to those who struggle to understand what the point is. “Ooh, yes! I get it,” followed by “I like it” is often the reaction to one of his explanations, says Robert, whose father is Sir Reginald Sheffield and whose sister is Samantha Cameron.

His love of art may have been inherited from his paternal grandmother, Nancy Sheffield. She and her husband Edmund bought Grade I-listed Sutton Park in 1963 after the family seat, Normanby Hall in Lincolnshire, was leased to the council for use as a visitor attraction, though they retained the vast Normanby estate, now overseen by Sir Reginald and Lady Sheffield, whose main home is Thealby Hall in Lincolnshire.

Nancy oversaw the interior decorating at Sutton Park, and it is exquisite, not least because she hired the renowned interior decorator John Fowler. The period art and antiques came with the family from Normanby Hall. Some of the most notable paintings and furniture are from Buckingham House, the London seat of John Sheffield, the 1st Duke of Buckingham (1648-1721), later sold to King George II to become Buckingham Palace.

“After my grandmother passed away in the 1990s, this house was used by the family for holidays so this is the first time in years that it has been a full-time home,” says Robert. “Fortunately, both my grandparents and the previous owners really looked after the place so there isn’t a lot of work needed on the house. I see my role as adding something of the 21st century while being mindful not to spoil what my grandmother did.”

His obvious response was to add contemporary art, especially that which reflects the socio-political. It sits alongside period portraits and antique furniture astonishingly well. “The new works of art complement and sometimes clash with the old, creating a lively dialogue that breathes fresh life and energy into the house and collection,” adds Robert, who swapped an old portrait over the fireplace in the library for an abstract painting by Frank Avray Wilson.

The panelled wall of the study now sports a composition by US photographer Michele Abeles, who combines her pictures of common objects, such as wine bottles, pots and printed fabric, with nudes. The fabulous bust by Cajsa von Zaipel’s is one of four entitled The Gossips, which draws on the idea of gossip as a socially defined female act.

The downstairs cloakroom is home to Rebecca Ackroyd’s sculpture Crier, which saw her cast the shutters on a closed shop front before pasting the top sections with black and white images of the rough texture of London streets.

The Chinese room has rare, hand-painted Chinese wallpaper dating to 1805, which is a complete contrast with The Lobbyist, an outré sculpture made in 2016 by George Henry Longly.

Seductive, a mirrored piece by Leeds-based Simeon Barclay, one of Robert’s favourite contemporary artists, is in the Red bedroom.

Descriptions of the new works at Sutton Park will be included in the new guidebook ready for next August when the house opens to the public for one month. The gardens are open in July and August. It is part of making the property pay as finding sources of income is vital for stately homes, which cost a fortune to run and maintain.

To that end, Robert is also planning to create a luxury tree house holiday let, due to open next year. “Income is important but I also want Sutton Park to be part of the community, not locked away. That is really important to me,” he says.

While the property has had an invigorating dose of modern art, some things should never be changed and that includes Christmas. Sutton Park will be filled with family and friends this festive season and it will be a traditional affair, which includes attending church on Christmas Eve, present opening on Christmas Day morning, dinner at 1pm and watching the Queen’s speech in the afternoon. www.sutton-park.co.uk

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