Text by Barb Gulley
Photography Courtesy of Angel and Dick Strawbridge
Restoring an old and several-years-neglected mansion in France proved to be captivating reality television with hands-on hosts Angel and Dick Strawbridge. More than just a home renovation saga, Escape to the Chateau is a true romance tale between a vintage event entrepreneur and a military officer/engineer whose shared passions led to rehabbing a historic estate while bringing up two small children. The nine-season series unfolded on BBC (now available in the US on Peacock), but there are still many chapters left.
The slogan “Dare to do it!” certainly embodies the spirit of Angel and Dick Strawbridge. Throughout the episodes of Escape to the Chateau, the Strawbridges bring us on their journey of restoring a mid-19th-century, 45-room mansion that came with a lengthy list of repairs and replacements—and that was just to make it livable. Undaunted by lack of working plumbing, heat, or electricity, Angel and Dick saw the potential.
To tackle the many tasks, Dick made a plan of work to be done in manageable phases. Angel was eager to put her designer skills to use and followed the stages with, “When can I decorate?”
Although many in the US were introduced to the Strawbridges through Escape to the Chateau on local PBS stations or HGTV in 2020, Angel and Dick, prior to the series, had successful occupations independently. With an impressive military career behind him, Dick served as an engineering consultant on several BBC television shows, which led to more than 10 years as a media personality.
Angel came to the BBC via her niche catering business, The Vintage Pâtisserie, on Dragon’s Den (similar to the US show Shark Tank). Angel not only captivated the hosts and audience but also an agent who represented Dick Strawbridge. The agent gained Angel as a client and performed a matchmaking feat extraordinaire.
Although The Vintage Pâtisserie was not Angel’s first retail endeavor, it did evolve from her love of fashion and entertaining. While hosting a launch party for her clothing business (vintage and new), Angel served food and drinks in beautiful china, preferring Champagne in teacups over glass flutes. A guest at one such gathering suggested that the catering side of the event was what Angel should really focus on, observing that she was a natural hostess. Taking that advice, she switched direction, and the party planning career took off. Angel did everything—making the biscuits (cookies), the sandwiches, and the scones and delivering them all in an old, red taxi. She was so successful that it led her to that fateful Dragon’s Den pitch, ultimately setting her on the path to her future husband and the Escape to the Chateau adventure.
Events are still a big part of the château, including weddings and daylong happenings that feature indoor and outdoor tours as well as luncheons and afternoon teas.
According to Angel, style is essential to a tea party. She puts to use her grand collection of period china, glassware, and serving pieces, as it “isn’t the time for the cheap crockery,” she says. Also requisite are cucumber sandwiches, clotted cream, and scones. Of the latter, Angel says to those who feel they are not bakers, “Anyone can make a good scone.”
For her own special tea getaways, Angel favors London tearooms Sketch, which has modern vibe, and The Ritz, for a classic afternoon-tea experience where she says, “They make the absolute best scones!”
At home, the château’s salon has been Angel’s preferred teatime place, but since the installation of the Winter Garden, she loves using this space, too. Her daily go-to tea is PG Tips. Other blends high on her list are a rose-infused Earl Grey and a lavender Earl Grey.
In her book Vintage Tea Parties (2011), Angel wrote that she hoped to have tea with the Queen one day. Though that never transpired, Angel says another person she would have liked to have had tea with was Vivienne Westwood, an influential English designer. Still in her present prevue, Angel would enjoy a teatime with Stevie Wonder, whom she has seen in concert on more than one occasion.
Angel’s tearoom preferences and guest lists are clearly as eclectic and fun as her designs and custom products. Last year, she and Dick crossed the pond to share their inspiration, know-how, and humor so evident in Escape to the Chateau. Their “Dare to Do It” Tour, which started in England and then went to Australia in 2023, came to the US and Canada in early 2024.
The tour was a family affair, with their children and Angel’s parents joining in the act at the very beginning. Throughout the Escape to the Chateau seasons, we see the couple’s children, Arthur and Dorothy, grow and thrive in the French countryside. Angel’s parents are also part of the adventure, and the entire clan still enjoys watching past seasons, which are like treasured family home movies. Only recently, she interrupted her father’s viewing—and thoroughly enjoying—of an early episode, noting sweetly how young the children were. Angel feels the series is a “beautiful gift” they can give to their children, part of the grand legacy of the château. And it is also a lovely present for their extended family of charmed fans.
See Angel and Dick live on stage in their new “Forever Home” tour at select theaters across Australia in 2025. For more on their tour, books, podcast, and other upcoming events, visit thechateau.tv. The Strawbridges’s book, Living the Château Dream, the second of their château trilogy, is available to buy now from Amazon. The new tome is filled with behind-the-scenes stories as well as delicious recipes.
Barb Gulley, writer and owner of Barb’s Tea Service, met up with Angel Strawbridge in January 2024, just ahead of the first North American tour, and found Angel to be just as warm, fun, charming, and honest as she appears on the series.
