Charleston Antiques Show 2019

2019  /  47 The Right Honourable Nicholas A.E. Ashley-Cooper, 12 th Earl of Shaftesbury N icholas Edmund Anthony Ashley-Cooper graduated from the London Business School with an M.B.A. After an early career in music in New York City, he inherited the earldom in 2005 and has since then overseen the restoration of the family seat, St Giles House. He is an extreme athlete, running marathons to benefit charitable organizations addressing the needs of people with disabilities — including races across the Sahara, Atacama and Gobi deserts. He is the first Shaftesbury in 50 years to live in the house, alongside his wife, Dinah, and their three children. They are the first people to live in St Giles House, Dorset, since the death of his great-grandfather in 1961. The Grade I listed building had been the family home since the 1400’s, but like many English country houses, it fell into disrepair following World War II. The family relocated nearby, selling many of the house’s exquisite pieces of furniture and objects. St. Giles House, slowly crumbling, appeared on the English Heritage “Buildings at Risk” register due to its perilous state of near collapse. As the Earl explained, “the world had moved on, leaving the house behind to fall slowly into ruin.” After several family tragedies, Nicholas unexpectedly inherited the title and house at age 26. Rather than shying away from the daunting house project — which in some areas had no electricity or plumbing — the new Earl was determined to make St. Giles inhabitable as his family home. His award-winning restoration first described in the New York Times and in World of Interiors is now illustrated in his new book, The Rebirth of an English Country House: St Giles House (Rizzoli). Lord Shaftesbury is a direct descendant of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (July 22, 1621 – January 21, 1683), who is thought to be the most versatile and brilliant of the original eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina. His participation in the Antiques Show is made possible by The Urban Electric Co. Honorary Show Chair