Shannon Vance and her team from Stash Style put up not one but two zero cool spaces at this year’s Fall Show. Most of my pics are from the Zapp Hall building, but the teepee and doilies-gone-wild shots below are from Marburger. Don’t you want to buy pretty much anything from the folks who can create spaces like these?
I drink my whiskey out of a teacup… Take me to the lake… Silly boys, trucks are for girls… Sorry for what I said when I was hungry… Stash Style t-shirts, like everything else, are made from vintage stock in Shannon’s studio in Rocky River, OH, which if you don’t know is near Cleveland and is both the birthplace of George Steinbrenner and the home of the Cowen Pottery Museum.
Quick aside: Chris and I drove all over Texas one month hunting high and low for that very wagon wheel living room set. We never found one in great shape for a great price, so we’ve lived our lives without, which seems a shame and I’m thinking we should probably get back to making one happen.
The Zapp Hall space had a lot of hats for sale, some in a straw stovepipe style that seems like a southern gentleperson’s version of the hat worn by Slash. If you’ve been looking for this look, please know that the ones here were much hipper than those available at Dress Like a Pirate dot com.
You leave at sunrise. Sit patiently in the traffic. Pay the premium entry fee. Get herded through the parking chutes. You find the luxury potty trailer and the gourmet breakfast booth and you stake your spot at your favorite entrance. Then you wait. For the bell. Because Marburger Preview Day starts with the ringing of the bell.
It’s a super scorchy steamy Preview Day. 9:45 am and we’re already squinting and shielding and sticking to ourselves. Nevertheless, when the welcome bell rings at exactly 10:00 we scoot over and under the caution tape barrier with dewy-fresh enthusiasm.
Inside, every gorgeous booth is preview perfect. I spend most of my time watching the deals go down; buyers scooping up tens of thousands of dollars worth of goods with a few points of a finger. Clearly, I’m surrounded by the serious players in the interiors world – a real Who’s Who – but since I only know the faces I know, most of the fun is wondering who all the the other Who’s are. BTW, this year’s surprise star and most Facebook-photo-posted shopper was probably Anderson Cooper, who kindly walked the show without a hat or even a pair of Ray-Bans. I’m sorry I didn’t get a photo of him for you, but you can imagine it, right?
Have you seen The Trip and The Trip to Italy? I hope so, and if you have, I’m guessing you’re intrigued by the whole notion of hopping into a tiny convertible with a somewhat close friend to spend the weekend in a charming locale with luxurious accommodations and interesting food options. Steve and Rob traveled the Yorkshire Dales and the Amalfi Coast, supposedly to critique the local cuisine, but I don’t remember hearing them say anything more profound about their extravagant meals than “mmm quite good.” Since Eurotravel might be a bit of a stretch for most of us, I’m going to make the case for a weekend at the Market Street Inn in Fayetteville, TX. Charming town, check. Luxurious accommodations, check. Interesting food options, Czech. Haha! That kolache joke came out nowhere and surprised even me!
The Inn’s owners, Joan Herring and Mary Quiros, are artists and collectors. Creative furnishings and unexpected works of art are part of what make their rooms feel anything but stufty.
And on a final note: One of the true tests of any BnB is its baths and I’m going to give the Market Street Inn straight A’s. Here are a couple of photo details, but you’ll have to visit yourself to experience the huge walk-in pebble tile shower.
Lanny and Lonnie are probably best known for their exceptional zinc top tables that have a unique, super-smooth coppery patina. If you can wait ’til next show to purchase your family dining table, you should, because the prices are reasonable and the mix-n-match tops and bases make it easy to get exactly what you like. And while we’re here, doesn’t that penny rug star make you wish you’d started collecting modern quilts about three decades ago and you now had a magnificent archival-quality storage room full of Nancy Crows and a pile of name badge lanyards from every Quiltcon ever?
Beyond the zinc tables, L&L’s space has a strong mix of town and country and garden and gun, with lots of oversized pieces. So if you can wait ’til next show to buy the bar back and bookshelves and grain bin storage units for your ruralist-chic new party barn, you should.
I wish I’d asked Lanny and Lonnie what this chair is all about, although judging by the “in the headlights” expression on the deer’s face, I’m not sure I want to know.
The Antica Collection booth at the Fall Show had a spectacular sketched portrait of Emperor Tiberius looming overhead. Remember I Claudius? That was a favorite book and even more enjoyable mini-series for me, even if I got a little mixed-up at times because everyone’s name was practically the same.
I remembered Tiberius as a less than noble emperor, but I wasn’t sure exactly why, so I googled him up. As I’ve said before, you don’t come here for a history lesson, so I won’t go into all the details of Tiberius’ life. But I will say that he was a bossy but rather lazy Roman emperor who made a point not to be “overburdened with work.” Well, we can’t all be Augustus now can we.
Antica specializes in early period European furniture and decorative items that are not quite from the Roman Empire, but they’re old. What’s surprising is how fresh and light and very modern their booth feels. It’s a photogenic space with textures and subtle colors that are easy to capture.
If, like Tiberius, your second retirement takes you to the Isle of Capri please hire me to help with the interior decor. Jackie Onassis loved Capri, so I think we might go for an Upper East Side meets Med-Chic thing, with elaborate Roman baths of course.
The good news? You've discovered The Crush List. The not so good? I haven't been actively posting here for a few years now, which means the never terribly reliable details about my crushes are even more unreliable. Antique vendors have switched venues, shops in town have moved or passed on, donkeys may or may not be in the same front yards... In spite of the risks of massive misdirection I've left the site up in hopes that it still achieves its goal - to inspire you to visit Round Top for the Antiques Show or any time you have the time.
With that said, I leave you to explore this random list of my very favorite things about my very favorite place. I’ve tried to capture the area’s special pieces and parts. Some are big deal, some are small gestures, some are legendary and some are just tiny pip and squeak.
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