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18
Jan
‘I’m a posh hoarder’: the former owner of Harrogate’s historic chapel
When Mark Hinchcliffe bought arguably one of the most iconic buildings in Harrogate, never did he expect to put up an owner of Domino’s Pizza and one half of the Hairy Bikers.
Mark, who has spent a large part of his life living in Harrogate, took The Chapel off the market in 2013 before turning it into a unique bed and breakfast.
Fresh off the back of selling the 19th century building, the Stray Ferret caught up with Mark on his time as owner of The Chapel and how the property has become known world-wide.
Mark, who is originally from Leeds, described himself as a “posh hoarder”.
“I’m a collector; I’ve always been into art, history and design”, he said.
The Stray Ferret asked Mark what inspired his creative flare, which was channelled into The Chapel's eclectic interiors.
I got really into surrealism, like Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst. I went down a rabbit hole with that. That would lead me to other types of art, and I’d go down another rabbit hole, which would then keep leading me to other styles.
Mark’s artistic flare also branched into his love of collecting. He told the Stray Ferret he had accumulated so much art before buying The Chapel, he had to hire a storage unit to keep it all.
People often ask me, ‘what things do you collect’, and I say: ‘just whatever catches my eye’. I think that’s why I keep a lot of things – they’re just so interesting.
Buying The Chapel
Before Mark took on The Chapel, plans to develop 11 residential units at the Grove Road site were submitted.
Mark said local residents were outraged at the prospect of turning the building into flats, and the increased number of cars proved the most contentious element of the proposal.
The plans were eventually rejected and Mark bought the property in 2013. He saw the purchase as an amazing design - and storage - opportunity.
I thought The Chapel and the Sunday School could make two amazing houses. I knew I could design something amazing there and alleviate the parking troubles.
But it was made a grade-two listed building as the sale was going through.
Mark lived at The Chapel for the next 11 years.
The Chapel on Grove Road
The bed and breakfast
Mark never expected he would be running a bed and breakfast, nor did he think one trip to Italy would encourage him to open one.
The guys from Stuzzi on Kings Road once bought some chairs and a radiator from me at The Chapel. They had an Italian man coming over to see them and asked me to put him up at The Chapel – I had renovated it all by then.
He stayed with me and loved what I had done with it; he said it felt homely and cosy but had a real historic feel.
The man invited Mark to stay with him and his family in Alba, in Italy’s Piedmont region.
The family owned Ceretto – a winery in the Piedmont region – as well as the region’s first three-Michelin-starred restaurant.
I just felt it was such a sharing experience when I was there – it was amazing. Every single person was so hands on and so involved at Ceretto, it inspired me to open up The Chapel and share it with other people.
At the end of the day, I was just the caretaker of an amazing building.
Mark told the Stray Ferret he is grateful to have met so many of amazing people through opening a bed and breakfast, including one of the owners of Domino's Pizza and Hairy Biker, Si King.
He added:
A woman rang me up once and wanted to book all five rooms. She said her boss was coming over here to ‘trade his history’.
It turns out he owned Cathay Pacific airlines. I thought they may have been visiting for the Harrogate gift fair! They were so lovely.
The Chapel featured on Channel 4’s The Restoration Man and Salvage Hunters – streamed on Quest - whilst Mark and his partner Heidi were operating it.
They also won Channel 4’s Four in a Bed in 2018.
“I’d never even watched the programme when we got the call”, Mark told us.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would end up on TV and with such a window of opportunity just from buying it. Someone in Australia even sent me a letter about the property after seeing it on The Restoration Man.
The sale
Mark spoke fondly of his time as The Chapel’s owner, so we asked what led him to sell it.
I’m not an artist, but I feel like one in that I get bored. It became the norm, and I wanted something else to stimulate my brain.
But selling The Chapel would not be an easy task, as Mark quickly discovered, particularly with minor obstacles such as a global pandemic and Brexit.
The Chapel spent four years on the market, initially listed for £1.5 million in 2020.
The asking price fell to £1 million in April 2023, before dropping to £850,000-plus when it went to auction in November that year.
The Stray Ferret asked Mark why he believes it took so long to sell The Chapel.
I can imagine it being daunting to some people. It’s hard to fill it and I think people were put off by how big and how unique it is.
It’s not just the property you’re taking on; you’re taking a different kind of architecture and the maintenance of it is massive.
The Chapel was eventually sold to Chinese manufacturing firm Dishang Cherry Ltd. The sale was confirmed last month.
The company, which was previously based in The Exchange on Station Parade, was granted approval to convert the grade-two listed building into an office last September.
Mark previously told the Stray Ferret the company has “really embraced” the building.
What’s next?
Mark told the Stray Ferret he and Heidi love to support the contemporary art world through their gallery, A Modest Show.
Next week, they’re headed for London Art Fair and will make their way to Art Rotterdam in March.
Mark is also designing the interior of the new Ake and Humphris wine café on Oxford Street, which is expected to open this summer. He told us he is delighted to be able reflect his personality through the interior but to also show off the building’s history.
As an arts and culture fiend, we asked Mark what he feels Harrogate is missing. He said:
Places like Margate and London have so many interesting independents – they bring a new flow of people.
We have 200 acres of the most amazing of grass, can you imagine if a section of that had some sculptures on it? There needs to be more culture and more independents to bring people to Harrogate for more than just one night. Harrogate is so beautiful, but there’s nothing to do when it rains.
Mark feels people need to think outside of the box, and the town needs someone to “inject some passion into it”.
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