Character Building

Antiques dealer Ann-Sophie De Stoop has created the perfect setting for her family and latest collections.

- Juliet Benning

It wasn’t long ago that several of the rooms of Ann-Sophie De Stoop’s Belgian home hosted various farm animals. Now transformed into an elegant and restful family retreat, the property’s past is still evident in many of the details, and in its overall character. ‘When we first saw the photos of the house it was in a very bad condition,’ says Ann-Sophie. ‘It hadn’t been lived in for five or six years, and was more or less abandoned.’ But as she and her husband, Charles, had been looking for ‘the right’ rural property for some time, they were eager not to pass up the opportunity despite its many challenges.