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By Michael Kitch
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
GILMANTON — After standing empty for more than two years, the Brick House at the corners will once again serve as a showcase for fine antiques under the ownership of sisters Anne Bartlett and Karen Jenkins, who plan to open an emporium before the year is out.
The pair acquired the property in a foreclosure sale for $410,000 and have begun courting dealers to lease space and building some inventory of theirown. With the recent closure of antique malls in Meredith and Gilford, Bartlett hoped that displaced and orphaned dealers looking for a new home find the venue to their liking.
Altogether the Brick House offers 10,000 square feet of space divided between the main house, ell and barn. Originally built in 1810, the property was lovingly and meticulously restored by Doug Towle, who purchased it in the early 1980s. The main house has a parlor, living room, library and dining room, each with a fireplace, downstairs and four bedrooms, each warmed by a fireplace and two decorated with murals by local artists, with two bathrooms upstairs.
The two-story ell houses the keeping room and kitchen below and two bedrooms with a half-bath above. Throughout the building is graced with wide pine floors, crown and matchstick moldings, fluted column mantles, granite thresholds and original hardware. The two-story barn, features hand hewn posts and beams behind clapboards milled on waterdriven saw to vintage specifications.
Bartlett and Jenkins intend to make full use of their unique setting. “We’d like to try and have dealers furnish the rooms as though they were lived in,” said Bartlett, adding that they hope to reserve the downstairs of the main house for the finest antiques. She envisions the keeping room, which links the ell to the barn, as a transitional space for antique furnishings. Jewelry, collectibles, ephemera, memorabilia and other items, including those kept in display cases, will be housed in the barn, where there is nearly 3,000 square feet of floor space on two floors. “We would like to provide space for crafts people and artists as well as for antique dealers,” Bartlett said. “We want to have something for everybody.”
The sisters have operated garden centers and restaurants together, but have yet to deal in antiques, though both are collectors with a keen eye for quality merchandise. “Our primary job will be to serve the dealers, but we will probably take some things on consignment and sell items of our own,” Bartlett said. They plan to remain open throughout the year while acknowledging that they may have t tailor their schedule to the interests of the dealers. Above all, they are fully committed to the success of their joint enterprise. “Karen and I will be here eight days a week,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett said their biggest supporters are their husbands, Andy Bartlett and Dave Jenkins. “They have real jobs,” she laughed, “and they have the business minds. We go to them for advice.” Likewise, she stressed that they have received strong encouragement and support from the town and its residents.
The sisters have yet to set an opening date. Bartlett said they have commitments from 10 dealers and a number of friends and neighbors with antiques and collections have offered items for consignment or asked to lease space. “Downstairs needs to be full,” she suggested, “which could be in a month or three.”
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