Carefully Curated LIVING

This lovingly restored Gustavian manor has become both home and showroom for its owners, Maria & Jan Åke, who deal in European antiques

- PAUL CATTERMOLE

The whole story is a bit romantic in a way, smiles Maria af Trampe, now 64, recalling how she came to be living in a Swedish manor house, surrounded by antiques. 'As a child, I loved being taken around fairs and markets by my parents, but I wasn't brought up in a manor house full of antiques. It was a move to London that prompted that." Back in 1995, Maria and her first husband, both of whom worked in corporate banking, found themselves posted to London. Walking up and down the King's Road, Maria was struck by the number of Swedish antiques that filled the fashionable shop windows - the grand Gustavian style was very much in vogue at the time.

The sight of so much familiar furniture rekindled her interest in antiques, and started her thinking about a possible career change.

'I had a very beautiful aunt, Gudrun Ödmann, who ran an antiques shop in Stockholm, and she encouraged me,' explains Maria. 'I told her about my ideas, and she said: "If you want to start in the antiques business, you must go and see Jan Åke af Trampe. He is the source of it all!"

Jan Åke had built up a successful wholesale business supplying Swedish and continental antiques, and acting as a museum consultant. With an introduction from her aunt, Maria set off for Sweden and met up with Jan Åke, who helped her put together a collection of Swedish furniture and design. 'I took a good lorry-load of 110 items back to London,' explains Maria.

Once back in Chelsea, she laid out a selection of pieces in the basement of her townhouse and invited a number of top interior designers to a private launch. Maria's business quickly outgrew the basement and she took stands at antiques fairs, such as The Decorative Fair at Battersea.