THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603290059
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANN BARRY BURROWS, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
FOR HOME DESIGNERS focused on period decorating, there are two new treasure troves in the area that are attracting customers from around the country but remain undiscovered by many local homeowners.
Period Designs in Yorktown was opened a year ago by three antique experts and craftsmen. The shop has reproduction pieces from the early American era of the late 17th and the 18th century, especially the dishes, goblets and popular household items from the historic Williamsburg-Jamestown-Yorktown area.
The Renaissance Collection is a little shop in Virginia Beach with a big inventory of Italian, French and European classical furnishings, paintings, porcelain and building materials such as richly embossed moldings, fireplace mantles and other architectural elements.
Owned by a Virginia Beach real estate agent with family ties to Italy, it is a prime stop for designers interested in a neo-classical look and reproduction prices.
Both businesses are starting to enjoy success. This winter during the Williamsburg Antique Forum, Period Designs benefited from a rush of visitors and $20,000 worth of business in one week. The Renaissance Collection recently supplied a dealer renovating a 3,000-square-foot condominium on 5th Avenue in New York, near the Guggenheim museum.
The unique quality they share is that while they primarily sell reproductions, they celebrate an era of craftsmanship and pay strict attention to historical accuracy. Both re-create 18th-century styles with objects of quality at prices far below those of rare and original antiquities.
The proprietors of Period Designs are basically a talent pool. Michelle Erickson, Robert Hunter and Virginia Lascara each have extensive experience and separate businesses, and all three have worked with Colonial Williamsburg.
Erickson is owner of Michelle Erickson Pottery Inc. and provides historically accurate ceramics for museums nationwide. Hunter is an antique dealer specializing in British and American pottery and porcelain and is former curator of ceramics and glass at Colonial Williamsburg. Lascara reproduces period frames for museums and conservatories at the Black Dog Gallery in Virginia Beach. She also reproduces antique prints and painted floor cloths.
Limousines often pull up to the shop at 401 Main St., which is the Mungo Somerwell House, a restored building within the Colonial National Historical Park that is leased to the shop owners.
The effect of parking on the quiet, dirt-edged street and climbing worn stone steps to the entrance of the brick colonial home is akin to passing through a gateway in time. Inside, the merchandise would appear costly to the casual shopper, but, to antique dealers, it is bargain-basement.
And there is the unexpected delight of seeing rare pieces re-created in their original glory. They are not behind glass in a museum, but on sale and ready to take home.
A mahogany bombe chest, for example, sells for $10,000 and is a copy of the original sold recently by Sotheby's for $2 million. A figural salt shaker of English delft prototype pottery is $100, while the hard-to-find originals are valued at more than $200,000.
Hunter, with his antique dealership partner Sam Margolin, will identify a likely antique for reproduction, and one of his co-proprietors or a member of a handful of craftsmen they call on will reproduce it. Old methods are followed, because it is the only way to get the look Hunter wants.
Generally, their choices relate to the household goods that were common to Americans in the 17th and 18th centuries. The list includes ceramics, glass, maps and graphics, furniture, floor coverings, leather, brass, iron and frames.
All of it is made by hand, usually with the same processes that were used during the early American period. Hunter dislikes calling them reproductions, though he admits he cannot think of another word for them. He said that word does not reveal the pride the artisans take in the process and the reverence with which they view the materials and the finished product.
``We don't mass produce anything,'' he said. ``And aging something to make it look old doesn't make sense to us. We want it to accumulate age by people using it themselves.''
Similarly, the rich look of history is something that Cam Templeton-White wanted to bring out of the faraway Italian villa and into modern-day homes in America when she opened her shop in Chambord Commons off Great Neck Road in Virginia Beach.
The Renaissance Collection is virtually a supply store for Old World elegance. Limited-edition Giusseppi Armani porcelains and hand-painted, 24-karat limoge[sic] French porcelains are the showpieces of the collection, but the bulk of the business is in the 18th-century decorative trim for indoor and outdoor building design.
Templeton-White designed and built her home in the Robin Hood Forest area of Virginia Beach to showcase the rich and varied moldings. Her catalog contains about 400 designs of mantels, cornice moldings, stair balusters, ceiling medallions, window and door casings, key blocks, swags, base moldings, chair rails, wall designs, corbels, wainscoting and other items. Her home contains an impressive number of them, all washed in rosy beige paint.
The moldings have been featured in Homearama homes and in dozens of custom homes in this area. Much of Templeton-White's business, however, is nationwide.
``We have interest from everywhere down to the New Orleans area,'' Templeton-White said. ``And we do a lot of business in the Chevy Chase area of Maryland.''
The moldings may produce an effect reminiscent of an aging Italian villa, but in fact they are molded strips of wood fiber and resin produced in North Carolina near Greensboro. There are few other suppliers, none locally.
The moldings are sold by the linear foot at prices ranging from $18 to $35 a foot. They can be painted, stained, sawed, glued or nailed with ease. The originals from Europe would be made of plaster or carved wood at much higher prices.
The styles mix and match without the need for expert planning. The hardest part, says Templeton-White, is knowing when to stop. After the doors and windows are trimmed, then the ceiling perimeter is lined, the floors are treated with base molding, wall swags and corbels are hung and a few mirrors and shelves are trimmed as well. The effect is opulent.
For those who appreciate the art and craftsmanship of the 18th century, these shops will remain trusty supply houses. For those who struggle to restore homes or stock museums with items of historic accuracy, these shops are not much short of a godsend.
As one national trade manual on restoration puts it:
``There is perhaps nothing more frustrating, and ultimately more rewarding, than tracking down a missing or coveted architectural element, be it the original or a reproduction. Heaven help you if you need more than one.'' MEMO: For information, call Period Designs at (804) 886-9482 or The
Renaissance Collection at 340-0000. ILLUSTRATION: COLOR PHOTOS BY BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
A pilaster and various ceiling moldings accent Cam Templeton-White's
Virginia Beach home.
A limited-edition piece by Giusseppi Armani is available at The
Renaissance Collection.
A floor cloth pained by Virginia Lascara hangs beside a mirror with
a hand-painted folk-art frame at Period Designs in Yorktown.
Period Designs pools the artistic and business talents of the three
proprietors, from left, Michelle Erickson, Robert Hunter and
Virginia Lascara.
Photo
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Eighteenth-century-style trims from her shop frame the front doorway
to Cam Templeton-White's home in Virginia Beach.
by CNB