As a passionate collector, Tony Venios of Anton Venoir Interiors has travelled Europe and his journey has taken him from the finest French Antiques dealers to flea markets and elegant French homes of Southern France. All of his advice and experience reflecting his impeccable taste in collections, and living with and caring for French antiques and French art objects. With his invaluable information and inspiring knowledge for collectors of decorative art objects Tony Venios will delight newcomers to antiques as well as any knowledgeable collector.
He has assembled one of Australia’s most distinctive private collections of French decorative arts, featuring rare and authentic pieces from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The collection primarily focuses on historic periods including Louis XIV, Régence, Louis XV, and Louis XVI.
Private Viewings & Classes: Masterclasses on French history, private collection tours, and exclusive high tea experiences with French champagne.
Ever growing, ever changing world of antiques
“My passion has always been preserving French history—not simply as objects to admire, but as spaces to be lived in, shared and experienced”. “My work encompasses antique investment, private collections, period home restoration and the conservation of historically significant furniture and decorative objects.” Appartement 26—a private Parisian salon Described by Vogue Living as a “Petit Palais”, “it was originally conceived as a home for my personal collection and has since evolved into one of Australia’s most distinctive cultural and hospitality destinations.”
“I have always loved antiques, not simply to decorate a room with them, but to allow their stories to meet and centuries to become as one” “Nothing is there to simply fill a space. A new chapter in its history that began long before, begins”
‘I never truly believed I was collecting antiques in the commercial sense’
Yes, I buy and sell pieces.I have to.That is simply the mechanism that allows me to continue searching… discovering… bringing forgotten fragments of history back into the world around me. But I was never chasing objects.
I was chasing feeling. Most people see an 18th-century clock and think of decoration.I see survival.
Something that has outlived revolutions, heartbreak, entire generations of human lives… yet still sits before me ticking exactly as it did centuries ago.
Perhaps I needed proof that beauty could survive collapse.
The clocks became the heartbeat of the room.Every tick a bridge through time.
That is what Appartement 26 became for me.
Not simply a place —but a sanctuary suspended somewhere between memory and imagination.
Candlelight flickers against mirrors that have reflected centuries of life before reflecting your own.Music moves through the rooms like perfume.The clocks still breathe.Nothing feels entirely still.
Because these objects were never dead things to me.
They carry atmosphere.Emotion.Human residue.
I did not build Appartement 26 to impress people.
I built it to make people feel something they cannot quite explain.
Not because I wanted to own history —but because I wanted to live inside something timeless.
The remarkable thing about great works of art is that they never truly belong to us. We are simply their custodians for a period in history “Some people collect antiques, I prefer to see it as collecting history”
Appartement 26 where every object has lived a life before meeting you
Appartement 26 was never made to be mine alone. It was created to be shared. A place where history breathes where objects survive
“My responsibility is not to make these arts perfect, but to make sure we don’t loose what time left us. To preserve the natural history & beauty not strip it. I conserve and not erase the centuries of age in pursuit of perfection. But instead carefully clean, nourish, preserving the original surfaces with the use of traditional techniques. I don’t turn back the clock. I simply care for what has survived”
The daily life of Tony Venios, the founder of Anton Venoir Interiors, is a sophisticated blend of historical research, international sourcing, interior styling, and high-end hospitality. As a specialist in 17th to 19th-century French antiques, his routine bridges Melbourne and France, centered around his famous “Appartement 26”
Tony Venios has redefined the antique-buying experience by merging it with elite hospitality. His evenings or weekends are often occupied by hosting exclusive events inside the apartment
