Appley Hoare’s love affair spans many years and thousands of miles, from Africa and Australia to Pimlico in London and the southwest of France. This grande passion has had a profound influence on her daughter Zoe, as well as giving Appley a sense of adventure and fulfilment that many would envy.

Appley’s all-consuming love is for French country style, for the faded grace of aged paint on an old armoire, for the delicate ironwork of chairs found in the shade of olive trees, for weathered wood, crisp white vintage linen and milky zinc. Her interest is stirred by furniture and artefacts that have history and the seductive scent of time.

From her white-fronted shop in Pimlico she “feeds” a clientele who are hungry for this style, enabling them to create a pocket of Côte Sud in their corner of England. But the culmination of her obsession was the purchase, five years ago, of a place of her own in the Camargue region of France.

Stepping into the shade of the double-height hallway, passing a group of tall wooden pompier (firemen’s) ladders and a large clock face resting on a trestle table, she says, “In the 18th century this was the production house of a winemaker who supplied wine and eau de vie for Napoleon’s troops. The place was a wreck when we bought it, but working with a good local builder we restored the roof and walls and then created rooms inside.

“The sitting room had one sound wall; we added the others and put in the fireplace and laid concrete floors with under-heating. The heating is essential in the winter, but in summer the high ceiling and cold floors help to keep the temperature down. The doors open on to the lavender beds, which we planted because it is a low-maintenance plant and, as we aren’t here all the time, we wanted a garden that would look after itself.” The heady scent on the warm air is a seductive addition.

Easy maintenance and relaxation are fundamental to the style of the house. “Because we come here on holiday and it is an informal place we combined the kitchen and dining functions in one room,” she explains. There is a sizeable range for cooking, with open stone shelves on one side and a large dresser and side tables on the wall opposite. The dresser and tables are 19th century and came from a convent school. “At one time they were in the shop in Pimlico, but when we got this place I knew they would be perfect here, and the advantage of rebuilding was that we could allow space for some of the larger pieces. So the dresser was bought in France, taken to England and then returned to France,” says Appley, with a smile.

This international zigzagging is also apparent in Appley’s bedroom, with a painted Australian chest at the base of the bed and a pair of German ammunition trunks used as bedside tables. It also reflects Appley’s own peripatetic life.

“I was brought up in Kenya, but went to Paris at the age of 17 to study at the Sorbonne. I was already in love with the place because I’d watched films such as Irma La Douce and thought it was the most enticing and exotic city in the world. But when I got to Paris I was on my own and lonely, so I walked for miles observing and visiting markets. I’d been a collector since I was a child so it was only natural that I should start to buy things.”

A few years later she moved to Australia and worked as a photographer and stylist before setting up her own props company, which evolved into a stall in an antiques arcade and then a shop selling French antiques and pieces of Australian country furniture. Each year she would make two or three trips to France to seek out new stock, but eventually decided that living in England would bring her closer to the country she loves, while still allowing her to carry on her business.

And then her daughter Zoe, who had completed a degree and worked elsewhere, decided that her mother’s passion for things French was too strong to resist, so she joined the family firm. “Since Zoe was four years old she was dragged around antiques shops, fairs and auctions, so I suppose it was inevitable,” says Appley.

But here at their maison française each has their own space: their bedrooms are large enough to accommodate sitting areas where they can spend time alone or with personal friends. In her room Zoe has a collection of black and white photographs and indulges her taste for sharper lines and more industrial style, while Appley enjoys her collections of old books, pieces of ornate plasterwork, odd ceramic jars, bottles and little bits of this and that – all of which go to create the ambience and style of this house that is the fruition of a lifelong love affair.

www.appleyhoare.com

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