Favorite Victorian Dealers/Shops?

[furniture fanatic]

I am hoping to start a thread where we can post the places which are our favorites to buy Victorian furniture.  I would like to start this thread because I live in the Midwest, and I while I frequent many an antique shop, I rarely see Victorian furniture for sale the likes of which is focused upon on rarevictorian.com.  So please contribute, no matter where in the country you live, as I (and I'd imagine others) would be willing to stop by shops outside of our areas of residence on vacations, business, etc. so long as we know where the "hot-spots" are.  I'd start, but like I said, I haven't really come across any that I particularly recommend.  Please post the name of the place, the city and state, why you like the store, etc.

[Rare Victorian]

Mid-Atlantic Area Favorites:

In Pennsylvania:

Stoudt's Antique Mall - Adamstown area - http://www.stoudtsbeer.com/antiques.html
400 dealers inside 78,000 sq feet.  Very good due to the variety and quality.  Many antique malls are junk shops but this one is a couple notches above.  If you love antique lamps, I don't know if you'll find a better Victorian lamp store anywhere in the U.S.  I've found high-end Victorian furniture here and at good prices.  The brewery and restaurant which is attached is excellent when you need a break.  The Adamstown area is loaded with more antiques malls and shops including Renninger's but I'm not too fond of that particular location of theirs.

Oley Valley Architectural Antiques - Also in the Adamstown area - http://www.oleyvalley.com/
Huge place with tons of 19th century antiques but at least 1/2 of it is architectural stuff: banisters, built-ins, bars, doors, etc.   Prices are high so I stop in sometimes like I would a museum - to look around.  Locally famous and Whoopi Goldberg has bought lots of stuff there.

In Maryland:

North Bend Galleries  - 28220 Saint Michaels Rd Easton, MD.  I pick up a table there once in a while and once a Belter Rosalie chair.  Small place, very eclectic but if you're in the area anyway, stop in to see what has arrived.  The owner bought an 18-room Victorian so that he had a place for his Victorian furniture.  He's told me he's going to start selling pieces and he has good stuff...

10 miles down Rt. 33 in downtown St. Michaels, MD there are two antique stores, London, and Oyster House which has high-quality (but not famous maker) Victorian among other eras.  I picked up a 1880s natural, labeled Heywood-Wakefield wicker chair in unbelievable condition there.  There's always a table or two that I get tempted to buy.  To me they sell some of the best original condition/patina furniture I've found anywhere.  Small store so you won't see anything larger than a buffet in here.  St. Michaels is a great place to visit and enjoy the local seafood in an historic town.  I love it so much I have my 2nd home near there.

If I think of others ... I'll post again.

[1881victorian]

I really do enjoy the Harp Gallery in Appleton, Wisconsin.  I will say, however, that I am aware of some of the auction houses that they frequent and I do see how much they are able to purchase their inventory for.  On the up-side, they do not mark it up unfairly.  Indeed, a number of east-coast dealers end up buying items from the Harp and marking them up even further.  I also like the high volume of merchandise that the Harp moves...I check their site daily and there is usually new stuff up there several times per week.  I have never regretted anything that we have bought there, but I do tend to prefer to buy items at auction, especially when I know that I am bidding against the Harp. 

My one criticism is that I recently saw that they bought a piece of a L-shape dresser at auction...specifically, the hat-box component that sat to one side of the long, vertical mirror.  A few weeks later I saw that they had taken off the asymmetric decorative "swoosh" backsplash-looking piece, replaced it with a symmetric piece, put some bun feet under it, and then put the thing up for sale as a Victorian bedside nightstand...all with no mention of its heritage.  So, as with anywhere else, buyer beware.  I have turned up my nose at some items that they have sold after noticing newer screws & the like.  They seem pretty open about their restorations in person, but it doesn't hurt to be a smart buyer.

When it comes to "paying retail" for antiques, I don't think that the Harp can be beat.  As alluded to earlier, I have seen some of their stuff for sale at Southampton Antiques (www.souhantq.com) out east (asinine prices, in my opinion). 

Regardless, check out the Harp Gallery at www.harpgallery.com

I also like what I have seen online of Antiques on Hanover Street in Carlisle, PA.  I have never done business with them, but they have done a great job of expanding their collection over the last few years and they keep their prices very competitive too (last I checked).  They are one to watch...they keep a presence on RubyLane.com, but they also have their own site at www.antiquesonhanover.com. 

I think that a mark of a good antique store includes keeping prices relatively low so as to be able to have a high inventory turnover.  Most of the stuff that comes out of the Harp Gallery & Antiques on Hanover is very competitively priced when compared to brand new furniture, but here you have the bonus of it being antique and, as such, high value retention (if not appreciation).

Thank you,

Jason

[1881victorian]

All apologies...after re-reading the initial post, I see that you were probably looking for antique dealers who have the super-high-end stuff.  I tend to enjoy collecting in the middle market...nice pieces without names like Belter, Meeks, Roux, Herter, etc.  I doubt that I have seen any of these at the Harp Gallery or at Antiques on Hanover.

So...you might enjoy a walk through that Southampton Antiques (MA) or Antiquarian Traders (CA).  These are the sort of places that bring great auction bargains to the market at incredible mark-ups.  The Harp Gallery tends to mark items up by a little over a factor of 2 from what I have seen (a recent $800+ bookcase was cleaned up a bit & re-sold for $2,250).  Some of the stuff at Southampton Antiques I have seen marked up by a factor of nearly 10.  But, hey, good for them...they can do that out where they do business. 

- Jason

[jacon4]

well, since i dont collect victorian i dont go to the shops enough to offer an opinion.

[formulagal]

My favorite Victorian Dealer(s) is Ebay & Ebay Live!!!  Where else can one find such a variety and great deals without the footwork of going store to store.  I have found most dealers to be honest and easy to work with. All in all - it just works for me. 

I live in L.A. and it is very difficult to find fairly priced Victorian furniture in a retail setting here.  I have been to Antiquarian Traders (I have viewed their furniture online for quite a while, but several months ago, in a previous post, John recommended I should check them out, so I did!).  The showroom is definitely over the top, it's like a museum storage facility, so in that respect it was a lot fun. On the other hand, much of their furniture looked more impressive to me online than it did in person.  I felt several pieces were over restored and looked like they had been painted to look perfect.  For example, a set of rosewood dining chairs had a faux dark brown painted wood effect with black and gold detail...I could not see any original wood material.  Also, I am part of the younger generation of furniture collectors and was completely snubbed by the person working there. 

[Peakangus]

I have to agree with formulagal--where I live, here in Atlanta, you would think that there would be a good selection of high or even medium end victorian furniture to select from--not the case at all.  Most of the auction houses here locally will have a piece of good victorian come through just a couple of times per year, and mostly they deal in 1940's era furniture, low grade oak furniture, containers of European or Argentinian furniture,  or primitives.  Not my thing. Same thing in most of the antique malls and shops I have visited in Georgia.   I rely heavily on Ebay and Ebay auctions, and on an online service called Auction Zip.  I have purchased numerous items this way and have not been disappointed yet.  I also travel regionally to the good victorian auction houses such as Flomaton, Grand View, Neal, and Stevens. 

[Rare Victorian]

I'm trying to investigate getting us a Google Maps tool that allows us all to add our favorite shops with comments to a map.  You can then search anywhere in the U.S. for antique shops that people have submitted and read the personal comments on those shops.

Keep posting here for the time being, but I may have something for us to try out in a few days ...

[jcapal]

       I wish I had a favorite shop in Cincinnati. There's a couple Federal era and a few antique malls. I rely on auction houses and the occasional newspaper ad. I never have purchased or sold on E-bay. So my favorite would be Neals, New Orleans,Fontaine's. I do like Southampton's catalog , I use it for reference. 
                               John

[Rare Victorian]

I actually have a prototype of an antique store/shop site tied to Google maps ready, but I don't like the design.  I'm trying to get it modified to be a little easier to use and more modern looking, but you can see version 1.0 here:  http://www.findantiques.biz

The new design I have in mind would limit the screens to 3.  We'll see if I get bids to do the work that are cost-effective and if the bidders have adequate skills to do the modifications for me.

Feel free to play around with this version but realize that I may reinitialize the database at some time in the future if a new version gets created in the next month.  I may be able to get it upgraded without touching the database, but to be sure, I'll just mention it in case.

[Peakangus]

I like the format Rare--I travel a good bit on business, and this would come in handy for a quick ref. guide when I am going out of town---good way to kill a few extra hours before the airport...Charles.

[ggsisson@gmail.com]

Just a comment about The Harp Gallery, I have purchased outstanding high Victorian arm chairs by Galusha from there.  Ken occasionally finds high end ware.  He has had some Belter chairs as well. 
Lise Bohn in the Twin Cities has the best of the best.  You will find her on a google search of Belter, typically.  I believe she still operates by appointment.  She is very gracious.

Gordie