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Biography
 Elleke Claassen van Steen was trained in arts, design and restoration in England and the Netherlands. As a young woman she was a guide for cultural tours in Spain and France, where she met her husband Willem, a fellow Dutchman who was a woodbuyer for a Dutch firm in France and also played a mean game of rugby in Nevers - a nice old city in the Loire region. They married in 1965 and started discovering, collecting, restoring and trading objects and furniture that caught their imagination. One magical part of the life of an arts and antiques dealer is finding and helping to preserve the incarnation of creativity that had enough quality to withstand time...
After building a house from the ground up in Chaam (Netherlands) and then restoring a farmhouse in Alphen (Netherlands), the couple moved to England in 1978 to historical Holverston Hall in Norfolk which had been built under the influence of the Flemish with distinct Dutch gables. Legend tells that one of the inhabitants of the Hall had to flee after a duel and found refuge in the Netherlands. Elleke, Willem and their children had a blissfull five years caring for and enjoying this beautiful place surrounded by old walled gardens that were bursting with flowers. While in Europe, Elleke participated in presigious antique shows such as De Doelen in Rotterdam, the first two Maastricht shows and the Olympia in London.
The family moved to Canada in 1983. First, to beautiful Calgary, and then in 1985 to Goodwood, Ontario, north of Toronto in the Durham forest. They took on the challenge of changing a very basic 1950's bungalow into an harmonious family home using designs of Daniel Marot from around 1700. This very talented Hugenot (Marot) found refuge in the Netherlands after the edict of Nantes which had made the survival chances of the protestants (Hugenots) somewhat unsure and followed William lll as architect du Roi to England. This symbiosis of influences of different countries Elleke thought would splendidly symbolise multicultural Canada. A 2400 square foot antique shop was erected on the same property as the new family home from which Elleke has been trading for the past 20 years. Willem in the meantime, with the help of his son Neal, had developed "Schadebo" a line of modern showcases and furniture.
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