THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604230183
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The sign over the Colonial-blue shuttered door welcomes you to Victoria's Legacy: A 19th Century Shoppe.
But once you step over the threshold of the white brick house in the heart of Smithfield's historic district, you're likely to stop and look around to make sure you're not in someone's home.
Oriental carpets on polished, wooden floors lead you to the formal dining room, where the large mahogany table is set for dinner. The glow of lamplight softened by glass globes with intricate designs in various hues settles into every corner of the room.
And in the parlor, an antique settee invites you to sit down, relax, thumb through the books of photographs left over from long ago.
No beeping cash registers or pushy salespersons are waiting inside the front door to hustle you through your visit to yesterday. There's just the friendly voice of owner Malcolm Anglin, welcoming you to Victoria's Legacy and offering to show you around three floors filled with art and antiques.
``Coming in here is a trip down Memory Lane for many people,'' Anglin said. ``Most of the people who come in here don't make purchases.
``That's fine because I really enjoy sharing the history of the house and the era. And if they see something they like, that's great.''
Anglin, who bought the old Victorian at 235 Main St. when he moved to Smithfield 12 years ago, restored the house bit by bit. When the Hampton native returned to his hometown last year after his father's death, he decided to turn his love of art and antiques into a career.
The first- and second-floor rooms are furnished just as they might have been during the Victorian Era, which ran from 1837 to 1901. The entire basement is devoted to period art, including a portrait George Washington is believed to have sat for.
As the newest in the string of antique shops lining Smithfield's Main Street, Victoria's Legacy is adding to the town's growing reputation as a good place to find antiques.
Although business has been a little slow since Victoria's Legacy opened six months ago, Anglin is confident that will change as tourism draws more people into the town.
Visitors have come from as far away as Seattle, Wash., as well as England and Sweden, he said. by CNB