Tom consumes hot water in French stately home (7)
I believe the answer is:
chateau
'french stately home' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'tom consumes hot water' is the wordplay.
'tom' becomes 'cat' (a tom is a male cat).
'consumes' is an insertion indicator.
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation eg on taps).
'water' becomes 'eau' (I have seen 'French water ' mean 'eau' so perhaps 'water' could also mean 'eau').
'cat' placed around 'h' is 'chat'.
'chat'+'eau'='CHATEAU'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for chateau that I've seen before include "country house in Bordeaux?" , "French castle or manor" , "French manor house" , "Impressive French building" , "Manor-house in France" .)