A Drizzly Day at Pete's Place

On a rainy (well, really more drizzly than downpour) fall day in New England can you think of anything better to do than visit an architectural salvage site?

No, well neither could my BFF and I when a couple of weeks ago we decided that it was finally time to head to Pete’s Place (aka Truck Stop Antiques) on Route 202 in Hollis ME, a former “junk yard” that she had spotted and was dying to check out.  Actually, there were a ton of more ideal rainy day options but we just couldn't wait any longer to find out just what Pete’s was about.

What could be better than a HUGE yellow polka dot bear???

The majority of Pete’s goodies were stored in trailers in a large field…very accessible but a little difficult to navigate in “challenging” weather (and cute shoes) and boy were we putting our IPhone flashlight app’s to good use but as the postal service says…”neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night”…

Pete has a large inventory of library catalogs & industrial storage solutions
all of it so great...I just need to get that workshop reno going now.

Lots of both metal and wooden crates

There is a shop on the property but it wasn't entirely open yet on the Sunday morning when we visited so we stuck to the yard and with the ok of Pete (who happened to be onsite doing maintenance work) explored at our leisure.

And lots and lots of sinks of every shape, color, style

Now, Pete’s Place is vastly different than Mason Brothers (check my visit to MB out here) or The Old House Parts Company (and my visit to OHPC here) in that it was a little more Sanford & Sons than Restoration Hardware but wow he has some great stuff!

Aren't these just magnificent windows?

Love all of the colors, shapes & sizes

The inventory at Pete’s is huge…if he doesn’t have what anyone is looking for I would be shocked.
It ended up being a really fun idea inspiring visit and after a good long look we left over stimulated, a bit hungry and more than a bit chilled.

Spools

and Pulleys

So what better to solve all three than a quick lunch at the Maine Diner in Wells ME…now if you have never been or heard of the Maine Diner let me tell you you’re missing out...their lobster pie is divine!

Phenominal Lobster Quiche
Photo courtesy of Kate Nolan-Denham of
Scissors, Spatulas and Sneakers

On this particular day soup and a sandwich seemed more in order to warm the bones…except of course we swapped the sandwich for some lobster quiche…yes I said lobster quiche.  Oh my…highly recommended!

Estate Sale - The Nightingale Inn

I have to admit it….occasionally (ok, maybe frequently) I go to an estate sale just to see the house….sometimes I can tell by the listing that the “estate” is just spectacular and perhaps the items for sale are not in my price range or not really my taste but the stories some houses tell 

are worth going to the sale for.

"The Estate"
photo courtesy of Google Images

This was definitely the case last weekend when I swung by the former Nightingale Inn in Wenham for the sale they were holding.  The property has sold and is being converted to a private residence so they were clearing out all of the “inn décor”.

The Front - this is what you find behind the gate...a circular
driveway with this gorgeous fountain in the middle

The Back - kidney shaped pool with fabulous portico for
relaxing

 The email I received from estatesales.net described this property as:

The Nightingale Inn, nestled in scenic Cape Ann in Wenham was built in 1910 by Arthur D. Little, the famous entrepreneur who discovered acetate, and went on to build a multi-national corporation. Later, John and Augusta Nightingale owned this historic 8,000 sq foot + residence complete with horse barns, fountains, pools and gazebos abutting Audubon land and expanded it to its current state. Augusta is a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson. President and Nancy Reagan once stayed at this residence, as well as astronauts and other celebrities. The home features grand reception halls, staircases, hand-painted Zuber wall covering depicting the complete 1849 El Dorado scene. Magnificent, well-appointed rooms and grounds make this an exceptional event.  The Inn has 5 rooms, each with private bath, 32 inch LCD Direct TV, and AC. The inn has over 8,000 sq ft of common space. There is also a guest house on the property with 3 full suites

How exciting is that, President & Mrs Reagan once stayed at this property?

One of my fav pics that I took on my visit to the Reagan Library a couple of years ago...highly recommend a
visit!

The furnishings were absolutely beautiful but not necessarily my style, a little too baroque maybe but holy cow the property was magnificent!  

The dining room has such beautiful wall murals

I do have to say I loved this dresser so
much...and believe it or not this is
how this photo came out with no cropping..

I showed up in the middle of the second (and last) day of the sale so many of the prime items were long gone but that was fine by me since I was far more interested in seeing the inn/house.

upstairs hallway - just love the wainscoting & interior
window

These gorgeous windows were interior windows that
were strategically placed to allow light to filter
through halls & stairwells that didn't have any
natural light sources.  So architecturally interesting too!

 One of the ladies that was working the sale told me that they had over 300 people in line waiting for over 3 hours the first day of the sale…I’m so glad I waited until the second day (which by the way was still crazy busy).  As much as I love a good sale I don’t know of much that I would wait in a line of 300 people for 3 hours for….I’m just not that kind of patient.

I probably spent an hour at this sale just meandering around the property…I don’t think I looked conspicuous at all…lol.  It was such a lovely day and really there were so many other folks around I’m fairly confident no one even noticed that I was busy looking at the light fixtures & millwork and not paying at all attention to the goods that were left for sale.

Perfect place for a party...
image courtesy of Yelp

Another Successful Plan B Excursion...The Old House Parts Company

Ever since I moved back to New England several years ago my BFF and I have an annual tradition of going strawberry picking the weekend on or around the 4^th of July.  And this year was no different, after much back and forth trying to find something that worked for both of our schedules we agreed to meet up a couple of Saturdays ago.  I had already planned my week of meals around the strawberry shortcake I was going to make (i.e. I didn’t have to make anything any since I would have shortcake for every meal lol).

Well, for the first time in forever the fields were CLOSED FOR THE SEASON even before the 4^th of July.  Can you believe it…apparently it was a very good year and unfortunately for us a very early year.  Guess its back to real meals for me this week….

So, as often happens with us….we moved on to plan B.  After my excursion to Mason Brothers Architectural Salvage in Essex Junction VT, where I just fell in love with house parts I had added some other local architectural salvage shops to my hit list.  One of these The Old House Parts Company immediately came to mind as a great plan B.  It was just down the road from the strawberry farm and I’ve just been dying to check this place out. 

The Old House Parts Company
1 Trackside Dr., Kennebunk ME

The Old House Parts Company is in Kennebunk Maine…the center of large magnificent Victorian houses (and the Bush compound) so there is certainly an abundance of inspiration and inventory for The Old House Parts Company….and we were definitely not disappointed.

We were lucky and were able to tour the Wedding Cake House
 (a private residence) in Kennebunk a couple of years ago on one of
our "plan B" excursions.

Almost before we even got out of the car we were oogling over the fantastic array of vintage pedestal sinks & claw foot tubs…nothing beats a long soak in a claw foot bathtub full of bubbles.

The Old House Parts Company is a huge building and is packed full!  I don’t think we had ever seen so many doors or windows…anywhere.  They were from all eras, in all shapes and sizes 

and all just fantastic!

Can't you just imagine all of the fabulous
things you could do with this window?

Could there be any more of an obvious
sign that this place was for me? (for
those who don't know..KP are my initials)

And I know I have never seen so many pieces of salvaged hardware in one place, if you are looking for doorknobs, hinges, key plates, etc. this is the place for you.  No rusty nails here.

Just one of 3 huge displays of knobs

A utilitarian item with such artistic beauty

There were so many fun things at The Old House Parts Company – not just building materials but industrial decorative items as well. 

Isn't this just a fantastic idea for a
mason jar?  I can just see it in a little cottage
by the sea

Re-purposing of those old not so nice
floral vases and extra glass pieces.  They
are garden stakes!

Take the wheels off, add shelves and hang it on the wall...
that's what they did at The Old House Parts Co. 

It took every bit of self control not to bring this home with
me...I just couldn't decide what I would use it for. But
I am still dreaming about it so I may just have to go
back...

The Old House Parts Company is definitely going on to my list of “must see again’s”!!

This is what actually made it into the car & home with BFF...
isn't it just fantastic?  It's fairly large so we think it must
have been on a scooter/motorbike of some sort...,maybe
milk or newspaper delivery?  It's now perfect for scrapbooking
supplies...yes those are all letter stickers!

What Happens in Burlington...Mason Brothers Salvage

For over the last 20 years my Mom has been living in St Albans Vermont (for those who don’t know St Albans is almost as far northwest as you can get in VT before you reach Canada) and for the last 5+ she has been contemplating retirement and a move back to Maine.  Well, a couple of months ago it finally happened; she sold her house, retired and moved.

With the closing date rapidly approaching I headed up for a weekend to share my wealth of knowledge as it relates to packing & moving (I’ve certainly done my share!).  After 2 full days of boxes, tape and packing paper I hit the road to meander home and on the way visit some of my old Burlington haunts. 

My first apartment ever as an 18 year old was in Burlington and I took a year off from college and lived there when I was 21…Burlington is a wonderful place that holds warm phenomenal memories for me.  Some people say “what happens in Vegas…” well for me it’s “what happened in Burlington…”

My first apartment was in this old school on Pine Street
in Burlington VT...such good times happened here!

Most of my old favorite spots have long since closed or turned into some kind of chain coffee shop but I soon discovered a couple of new favorite spots.  My first stop, Mason Brothers at 11 Maple St/Five Corners in Essex Junction VT is an architectural salvage shop that I literally could have spent hours in.  There were so many pristine home pieces and parts that were cleanly and perfectly displayed.  No crawling through the dirt at Mason Brothers (my kind of place)!

Grate covers - these are so awesome!  I can think of so many
things to do with these...they would make great wall art.

If this had only fit in my car....

Not really my style but how cool is it these throne
like chairs are for sale at an architectural salvage
shop

Vintage light fixtures, cabinets, doors, bathroom fixtures, farm sinks, stained glass windows…oh my...even some unique vintage furniture pieces.  Mason Brothers has it all and more.

Heavenly cabinetry - they just don't make it like this anymore

I love this sink and how cool is it that the vanity part is this
gorgeous marble?

 It’s important when you have an older home to keep the integrity of the bones of that home and places like Mason Brothers really are key in providing products that allow for upgrades/renovation while retaining that integrity. 

If you can't find the perfect hardware here
it doesn't exist!

Again, I literally could have spent hours at this place and would likely have never seen everything.

Wells Union Antiques

The next stop on our July 4^th Wells trek was Wells Union Antiques on Route 1 in Wells.  This is an interesting place and I really learned about a cool business concept here.  When pulling into the parking lot you are immediately struck by a row separate shops that are adjacent to each other – the exterior of each shop is unique but they also somehow remain cohesive in appearance.  Well, there is a very good reason for this – they are all “condos” that each proprietor owns but must play by the same association rules as their neighbors.  Great concept – individual shops gaining strength in numbers for the purpose of sharing advertising and building maintenance costs as well as appealing to a broad spectrum of folks with varied tastes/needs.  Broaden appeal and share overhead – great concept!

Wells Union Antiques
1755 Post Roat (Rt 1) Wells, ME
Cohesive look from a distance

Peggy Carboni's up close - very much
personalized to her shop's style

 The first shop we stopped in was Art Smith’s shop.  He had some really cool architectural salvage pieces and was doing some really refined repurposing of  salvage pieces.  We saw some phenomenal stuff here but let me tell you this is really a look for inspiration kind of place unless you have a fair budget to spend. 

This penguin was one of the more reasonably priced items at $110 - loved him!

If you are looking for spectacular eye catching architectural pieces he definitely has them.  Just inside the front door was a really awesome bicycle built for two that had just the right amount of aged patina on it to make it cool (but unrideable).  I absolutely fell in love with a carved wooden bear umbrella stand – he was adorable and a real conversation piece but a little out of my price range (aka several thousand dollars…really!).  Unfortunately we didn’t get a photo of him so just imagine the coolest carved bear holding a horizontal ring with holes in it to hold umbrella’s. 

The next shop in the line was Peggy Carboni Antiques.  Peggy was kind enough to share the information of this being a condo property.  We instantly bonded the second I entered her shop and immediately spotted the huge display case of rhinestone jewelry right at the front of her shop!  The contrast between Art & Peggy’s shop really speaks to the cool dynamic of Wells Union Antiques.  Where Art’s shop is very architectural (one might say almost masculine) Peggy’s was much more focused on that ubiquitous shabby chic cottage look.   While shabby chic is not particularly my decorating style, I certainly appreciated the all of the pretty things at Peggy Carboni’s.

Peggy's contribution to Shabby Chic

What a great way to display vintage linens!  Defintitely
brings that old mercantile feeling to the shop

These were so fun!  1950's
juice glasses with fun
flower graphics

The shop next to Peggy’s had some really great pieces – very traditional Maine antique pieces (the livable kind not the untouchable kind). 

Upon walking in the door the first thing we saw was this fabulous bank of vintage lockers painted a burnt sienna shade of red.  I could find a million (ok maybe just several hundred but you get the idea) things I could do with these in my house!

Check out the turn handles on these!
Wouldnt they be great storage for an
office - perhaps add shelves in each
locker?

There were a couple of additional shops that were not open the day we visited but if what we did see is any indication of what these shops might be hiding it will definitely be worth another stop.