Inside Churche’s Mansion, Nantwich town centre

Home staging is increasingly popular with property sellers. Helen Bullough talks to the experts championing the trend and visits the Cheshire landmark given a makeover to show it off to potential buyers

Elizabethan Churche’s Mansion, one of Cheshire's most iconic buildings has been treated to some up-to-date attention from the latest trend in property refashioning – home staging.

The half-timbered black-and-white property, which is on the market, was refashioned for an open day to show its versatility as either a business or private residence.

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) Lucy Allan of Dream Space Staging, based at Tilston, near Malpas, was brought in by bespoke property advocate Gemma Peters, who is now working on the sale, to stage the Grade 1 Listed nine-bedroom two-storey mansion house to maximise its appeal to potential buyers.

The Grade 1 listed building on the outskirts of Nantwich town centre, has had a varied history since it became the home of Richard and his wife Margery in 1577. Most recently, owners Sophia and Kyriakos Haelis have run it as a restaurant. It was originally put on the market last year for an auction estimate of £1.85m but failed to find a buyer.

Gemma, whose Hidden Gems business is based at Poole, near Nantwich, and has worked in Australia, where home staging is a familiar concept says. 'This property can’t be pigeonholed and so Lucy came in and staged it for different audiences.'

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) Lucy says the Churche's Mansion project made good use of the skills she used as an award-winning television executive on productions ranging from The Worst Witch to Hollyoaks: 'This particular job played to my television background because I needed to create an environment where potential investors and buyers could see how it could be used as a boutique hotel or a restaurant or a home.

'I identified spaces where, for example, I could dress an upstairs room as a hotel bedroom,or create a private dining space or a beautiful living room downstairs.' Mixing existing with additional furnishings, from chairs and tables to beds and lamps, Lucy also had to flex to the historical space. 'You can’t hang artwork on listed walls so in a departure from what I would normally do, I brought in a huge amount of flowers that brought out the features and colours of this unique property.'

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) The Home Staging industry – creating spaces where buyers can imagine themselves living to help properties sell quicker or for a higher price – is well established in markets such as Australia and the United States. Elaine Penhaul, who founded UK-wide property and home staging company Lemon and Lime, which has offices in Manchester and Derbyshire, said: 'Platforms such as Rightmove is like Tinder for houses. People just scroll through and profiles have to be impactful enough to make them stop. We create those visuals.'

'We will get the decorating done, change out patterned carpets, move out furniture that says "this is a dated home", change accessories and artwork and mix and match with beautiful things so it’s a seamless look.' Professional photography for those all-important “swipe rights” are also a key part of the home staging service.

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) Lucy emphasises the importance of decluttering: 'I will spend a couple of hours in the property with the owner and then draft a detailed report of what can be done before it comes to market. The owner can use that report like a manual or employ us to do the work.' The team will liaise with the client on what to keep in situ, store while the sale is ongoing or get rid of. 'We are linked up with Cheshire charity Changing Lives so we work with them to recycle what we can,' she says.

Understanding the aspirations of potential buyers is vital, says Lucy. 'You can make the greatest TV show in the world but if it isn’t what the audience wants it is never going to work. It’s exactly the same in staging, you have to look at the end market you are staging for and make sure the property is set up for them.' That might mean changing the proposed functions of rooms or making gardens look more child-friendly with additions such as goalposts. 'If I am talking to older clients who are downsizing, we can turn rooms back into children’s bedrooms to appeal to for buyers with young families who would be upsizing.

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) Stagers are often brought in to dress empty properties from top to bottom. Recently, for example, Lucy worked on a newly refurbished three-bedroom rental for students or young professionals in the fashionable Chester suburb of Hoole. 'We were endeavouring to make it stand out from the crowd so we designed a palette that complemented blue feature walls. As a rule, we work to 60 per cent neutral, 30 per cent primary colour and 10 per cent of a colour such as orange that will pop. Then when people see the photos online they will remember the colour scheme,' she says.

Elaine says staging has increased in popularity to attract buyers who have plenty of choice in a slow market. 'There is a reasonable amount of stock available currently and beautifully presented homes get a faster sale as buyers are drawn either to ones that look the best, or are very cheap.'

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) Lemon and Lime’s research suggests on average the homes they staged in 2023 received their first acceptable offer in 15 days. A 2022 Home Staging Association report says that while non-staged properties stay on the market for an average of 99 days, that drops to 45 days for staged. 'As with any product, your best chance of getting the highest price is as soon as it goes to market so that is where you need to be generating massive interest,' says Elaine. 'The ‘sit and wait’ approach doesn’t work, the longer you wait, the more likely a buyer will make a lower offer.'

With the UK Home Staging industry gathering momentum, Elaine now coaches new and established stagers and has written two books – Sell High, Sell Fast and How to Sell

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) 'Our main routes to business were, and are, property developers and estate agents but we now get 25 per cent of business direct from home sellers; when I started it was less than one per cent as people were not aware it was an option.' Lucy Allan agrees: 'There is enormous potential for growth in this industry and it’s very exciting,' she says.

The staging of Churche's Manson created a new portfolio of photography from Wigan-based photographer Adrian Little of aml360images. 'It is helping buyers to see the potential of the property,' says owner Sophia Haelis.

Churche's Mansion, Nantwich (Image: Adrian Little, aml360images) HISTORY FOR SALE

Churche’s Mansion

Completed in 1577, the timber-framed black and white Elizabethan mansion was built by Thomas Clease as a home for wealthy local merchant Richard Churche and his wife Margery.

Exterior carved brackets include the figures of a lion (depicting Christ) and a salamander (indestructible by fire).

Inside many original features have been preserved including rich oak panelling. Distinguishable in the grand hallway ceiling is a 'coffin drop' – a hinge from the first floor for heavy items that wouldn’t fit down the spiral stairs.

The Churche family owned the building until the 20th Century although it was rented out to several tenants including a tanner and a lawyer and at one point used as a granary and hay barn.

The mansion housed a ladies' boarding school in the 1870s.

In the 1930s, a group of Americans wanted to dismantle the mansion and ship it to the States. The plan fell through when it was bought instead by a local doctor, Edgar Myott, and his wife Irene who began the restoration.

The mansion was awarded Grade 1 listed status in 1948 and from the 1990s it was run as a restaurant and tea room and as a retail outlet for Adams Antiques.

In 2018 Sophia and Kyriakos Haelis bought the mansion, completing an extensive restoration and opening a speciality fish restaurant.