In 1977 we started the business and sold from an old hut in the garden. We now use the house where we used to live, and have converted three floors into selling space.

Nowadays buyers are much more sophisticated and prefer to see furniture displayed in rooms rather than piled high in a shed. We still see hundreds of our original customers, but a new generation comes to see us as well.

Here’s what the Yorkshire Post had to say about us (June 2005):

Householders who want to keep up with the Joneses can simply pop down to one of a dozen high street stores for the latest mass market, mass production furniture. If you want to stand out from the crowd, however—if you are someone who has an eye for something distinctive rather than run-of-the-mill—shopping can be a bit more of a chore or a challenge, depending, of course, on your point of view.

Just where do you go if you want something unusual for your home? Well, one place to put on your list is Pine and Country Antiques in Harrogate, where owners Michael and Frances Green have a collection of anything and everything from antique furniture and furnishings to original doors that have been stripped and restored, old brass and basketware, kitchen collectables, old garden tools, crockery and pottery, pictures and a host of other fascinating items that are sure to find a welcome in the home of someone looking for individuality. Even if you cannot find what you are looking for, the chances are that the Greens will be able to find it for you.

“If there is something a customer is looking for particularly, we will certainly try and track it down for them,” said Frances. She and Michael have spent the last 30 years providing customers with the unusual. The National Trust has been one fairly regular customer—sourcing antique pieces from the couple whilst restoring historic country houses in its ownership.

The building in which the Greens have their business is itself something of an historic monument. The building—in Regent Parade—was originally a penny library in Georgian times. People turned up and paid a penny to borrow a book before the emergence of council lending libraries. Michael and Frances originally used it as their home. They eventually moved out when their collection of antiques took over the building—but the fact that it was originally their home means that visitors to Pine and Country Antiques are able to see the collections on display in lived-in rooms. Customers can see how the pieces would look in the home.

Visitors to Pine and Country Antiques will find that this is also where Michael has his workshop, for he works as a restorer—another fact which is potentially useful to those looking to individualise their homes. Michael has a huge collection of original doors that have been stripped and restored. They can be bought in their stripped down condition for customers to finish themselves, or alternatively Michael will apply the finish of an individual’s choice. He also takes in doors to strip from customers.

“You can wax them, stain them, I have seen them painted in all sorts of wonderful designs. It’s up to you. What is certain is that the quality of modern doors cannot compare with the old ones. Once I have taken off perhaps 100 years of paint, you can see just how wonderful they are,” he said.

His restoration work is not confined to doors. He is continually working on a wide range of antique furniture. A number of European wardrobes he has been restoring recently have proved particularly popular. There are Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian chests of drawers, blanket boxes, dressing tables, bedside cupboards, kitchen and dining tables, chairs, cupboards and bookcases. Michael also makes bedheads, bookcases and other pieces for customers from reclaimed timber, and he will also restore customers’ own furniture.