Property News · February 4, 2018

Leap of faith: from abandoned chapel to heavenly home


How a Yorkshireman converted a Methodist chapel into a place to live – and a dramatic backdrop to his art collectionYorkshireman Mark Hinchliffe can vividly recall the spark that ignited his love of collecting. It happened in Leeds City Museum when, as a boy, he stood transfixed in front of a stuffed Indian tiger, its paws bigger than his head. The memory still burns bright 40 years later as he shows me round the 19th century, former Methodist chapel in Harrogate that he has restored and turned into a home – one he shares with his own vast, “bonkers” collection of art and artefacts. Here, a clutch of feather hats, there a fragment of antique French tapestry, hanging in the “gentlemen’s club room” brocaded military jackets from conflicts past. It’s not exactly a museum – Hinchliffe sometimes wears the jackets while cycling round town – but this is clearly more than just interior decoration. For one thing, every object has a story.“I was the kid on the beach who picked up a stone with a hole in it and wondered how that came about,” says designer Hinchliffe. “I once bumped into Antony Gormley and asked him what it was about the stone with a hole in it and he said: ‘I don’t know, I’ve been trying to work that out my whole life.’ There is no answer. It’s still working its magic.” Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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