Gilder Claire Mosley's perfect restoration of a ravaged Georgian house

The gilder Clare Mosley and her husband Mark Bicknell, who works in publishing, spent years living in Paris before they bought their eighteenth-century house in south London in 1993. It was a mortgage repossession at the tail end of the recession and the previous owner had simply put the keys through the letterbox and walked away.

'It had last been "modernised" in the Seventies,' says Clare. All five chimneypieces had been removed and the fireplaces boarded up, the lower ground floor had been made into a separate flat and the staircase torn out so that there was no access to the rest of the house. 'It was altogether pretty seedy and, although the foundations and roof were fine, all the plumbing and electricity had to be redone.' During the eight months it took to make the house reasonably habitable, they camped in one room and the builders worked around them. However, even this safeguard did not protect them from a few of the traditional building disasters. Having gone away for two days, Clare and Mark returned to find that the disassembled bed - a French half-tester - that they had stored in what was to be a bedroom had been cut up and thrown out of the window and into a waiting skip below.

The staircase down to the lower ground floor was reinstated - thankfully, the other original staircases were intact - and panelling was introduced into what is now a jewel-like lower-ground-floor dining room. All the original sash windows were found to have the original sliding sash shutters that had been sealed up and they are now once again in working order throughout the house. Chimneypieces were truffle-hunted from the backyards of various dealers in north London, since they were very particular that these should be of the same period as the house. 'The one in the dining room is a little older,' says Mark, 'but the other four and their register grates are as much in keeping as we could manage.'

The couple have two children who are both now at university, and this feels very much a family home, coloured by Clare and Mark's shared love of fabric and period design. On the raised ground floor, a hall leads from the front door to a casual sitting room that extends from the front of the house to the back. The bookcases, based on an original Georgian design, were made by cabinet maker Nigel Hall, who also installed the bespoke lower-ground-floor kitchen. Here, as in the rest of the house, there are examples of Clare's beautiful work: the walnut-framed mantle mirror, a number of verre églomisé lamps of differing designs, and gilded curtain poles and clocks.

This last example is a good illustration of how Clare and Mark collaborate - her artistry and skill is complemented by his ability to see the potential in vintage finds that have been discarded by others. Mark found an eighteenth-century clock in need of restoration at a market; then he and Clare tracked down bronze workers, an enamel-dial maker and glassmakers to help restore it. They decided to reproduce the clocks themselves, so Mark went to Switzerland and located a movement maker. Over the next eight or so years, they made and sold over 100 clocks, made from materials such as spun copper and coloured enamel.

A narrow staircase runs along the back of the house, giving the sitting room a gracious width, which is repeated in the drawing room one floor up. On the second floor is Clare and Mark's bedroom and the main bathroom, featuring a whole wall of églomisé mirrored glass, which she produces or restores for designers and private clients. At the top of the house are another three bedrooms.

Clare, who trained at the renowned frame makers Arnold Wiggins & Sons in St James's, now has a studio at the end of the garden. Many of her pieces had their origin in objects gathered on trips to Parisian flea markets and auctions. And, together, Clare and Mark have created a house that is an amalgamation of two creative tastes, which happily coincide. The result is an interior rich in history and comfort.

Clare Mosley Gilding: 020-7708 3123; claremosley.com