The Shop
(Click on any of the photos below for a detailed view)
Chesham Depot Antiques is housed in an original barn attached to an 1858 farmhouse. For approximately thirty years it served as a parsonage for the local Baptist society. In the late 1920s, the house was purchased by Ralph Bemis, who operated a successful, well-known chicken farm for fifty years. In 1988 it became home to author and Yankee Magazine writer and editor Edie
Clark (there is a link to Edie's web site in the "Links" page). The farm and all the beauty that surrounds it, was a frequent subject of her monthly column, "The Garden at Chesham Depot," as well as her acclaimed
memoir, "The Place He Made."
When we bought the house
in 1997, I had just begun to realize my dream of buying and selling antiques (at the time I was renting space in several antique co-ops). My family can attest to the fact that my excitement simply could not be contained. They still joke about how the shop was setup before the house was furnished. In fact, whatever we had in the house came from the shop, tags and all ... so, one minute we had a comfy wingback
chair to sit on in the living room and the next minute it was scooped up by a costumer who had found the perfect vintage upholstery fabric in the shop. (My husband now has a rule, anything that comes in the house stays in the house.)
The best way to describe Chesham Depot Antiques is
"eclectic."
For example: at various times you'll find a wonderful selection of country cupboards, harvest tables, Victorian commodes and bureaus and rugs (hooked, braided and handmade Persians). I also have a large selection of
toleware, enamelware, redware, stoneware, yelloware, fine China and collectible pottery, including Majolica, Limoges, Quimper, Nippon, Hampshire, Fiesta, LuRay, and McCoy. I also have vintage fabric, quilts,
linens, antique prints, postcards, original oils and watercolors, costume and antique jewelry, and vintage and antique lighting.
Because the property had been the site of
a chicken farm for
fifty years, it only seems right that the shop should be home to chickens and roosters (my kitchen is full of them)!
Poultry items don't stay in the shop long (they fly the coop), but I always try to replace the old hens with new ones. Right now I have a handsome porcelain cock about
12" tall, hand painted in Italy. I also have a cheerful majolica-style rooster, an iron rooster doorstop, a pair of
hand painted rooster plates, and a 1940s dinner set with roosters on the center.
The shop is open from 9 to 5 on weekends from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. It is also open most weekdays in the summer and by chance during the later fall and early spring. It's always open by appointment!
Please
also feel free to buy on line any time with the convenience of your
MasterCard or Visa credit card. I'll be glad to ship most items
(insured) anywhere. So please call! We'd love to see or hear from you anytime.
And at Chesham Depot Antiques, browsers are always
welcome!
Marylou
DiPietro
©2003-2005 Marylou DiPietro
Chesham Depot Antiques
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CharlesWorks Directory
Chesham Depot Antiques is housed in an original barn attached to an 1858 farmhouse. For approximately thirty years it served as a parsonage for the local Baptist society. In the late 1920s, the house was purchased by Ralph Bemis, who operated a successful, well-known chicken farm for fifty years. In 1988 it became home to author and Yankee Magazine writer and editor Edie
Clark (there is a link to Edie's web site in the "Links" page). The farm and all the beauty that surrounds it, was a frequent subject of her monthly column, "The Garden at Chesham Depot," as well as her acclaimed
memoir, "The Place He Made."
