A Victorian seaside villa in Hastings

Emma and David Mann’s house in Hastings has both the feel of a quirky museum and that of a welcoming home. Visitors find it hard to decide between wandering the rooms gazing at the objects covering every surface or accepting the offer of a cup of tea and settling down by the fire.

It was during a spur-of-the-moment visit to trawl the town’s plentiful junk shops over a decade ago that the couple noticed the area’s beautiful housing stock. A few months later they had swapped their small home in west London for a vast four-bedroom Victorian villa by the sea.

‘We love the proportions of the house,’ says David, and Emma adds that it was the 12ft ceilings and large rooms that really sold it. ‘We are so lucky that lots of the original features are still here – the sash windows, ornate cornicing, ceiling roses and marble fireplaces.’

The couple met in London’s Shepherd’s Bush over 20 years ago, when they lived in neighbouring flats, and a mutual interest in interiors led to the perfect partnership. ‘It’s fortuitous that our passion for antiques indirectly brought us to this house,’ says Emma.

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In April 2015, when a black weatherboarded toilet block on the seafront came up for auction, the couple seized the chance to turn their love of collecting antiques into a business. The result is Flushed, a wittily named vintage store-cum-cafe not far from the house. The loos were ripped out and replaced with an eclectic mix of vintage art, fabric, books, bric-a-brac and furniture. Customers can also enjoy a cup of coffee and a slice of cake while they browse.

Since then, the house has become a revolving store room, with pieces coming and going. It does beg the question, though, don’t they end up getting attached to things they’ve bought for the shop? The answer is yes. ‘We buy stuff to sell in Flushed and store it at home. Emma puts a price tag on it and, if I like the piece, I take it off again!’ says David.

Living with a constantly shifting selection of paintings, religious and naval artefacts and antique furniture has become the norm for the couple’s two children, Harvey (18) and Milly (16). Their parents’ penchant for collectables has been woven into the fabric of their lives for as long as they can remember.

‘Whereas most children would come back from a holiday in France with their colouring books in their little rucksacks, we made our two carry small antiques,’ laughs Emma. ‘And when Harvey was a baby, David made him a mobile from a carved gilt phoenix and Sanderson fabric remnants.’ These days, he has graduated to a 19th-century Breton oak wardrobe.

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‘My dad and I used to read naval fiction, like the Hornblower series by CS Forester, and I love the sea, so I have lots of nautical memorabilia. Among my favourites is a collection of early 19th-century engravings of captains that are lining the hall and starting to creep into the bedroom.’

The religious artefacts that are dotted around the house were gathered many years earlier when they converted a redundant Grade I-listed church in Kent. Emma’s most treasured possessions are the ones that have been with the couple since the early days of their relationship. ‘David recently tried to take an ornamental brass box from the house to sell at the shop but I wouldn’t let him, because we bought it on a beach in India years ago and every time I look at it I think of that holiday,’ she says.

Now that they have the business, Emma and David have the perfect excuse to spend even more time at auction houses, fairs and flea markets and they love nothing more than spending hours browsing. ‘Even before we had the shop, we loved going to the fairs. It’s such a fascinating day out, even if you don’t end up buying anything. There is always so much to see,’ says David. ‘We both love the feeling of understated grandeur that antiques exude.’