What’s in store? A handful of Broomfield’s independent boutiques fought the hard fight over the last five years before conceding that business in the shadow of a retail city the likes of FlatIron Crossing really is no business at all.
Meanwhile, one of the interior designers who founded this 6,000-square-foot antiques, gift and home décor market, set off from the highway and surrounded by bucolic open space, decided that someone was trying to tell her something: Every time Liz Trahern finished overhauling a display or color scheme for one of her retail clients, her mind began to wander through the wallpaper swaths and cottage charm she would apply to her own store.
Trahern teamed up with an old friend and fellow antiques enthusiast, Sherri Martin, to convert this historic New England-style farmhouse, picture-perfect in white with a red roof, into a mini-mall where every space from the bathroom to the porch features an Americana touch. Around 30 dealers converged on the house, where shoppers can now find everything from jewelry to fresh herbs, collectible furniture to gourmet chocolates. There’s even a massage therapist on site.
What’s in stock? Start browsing as soon as you park. Rusted architectural stars lean against the house near the parking lot, along with a collection of ornate metal planters and birdhouses fashioned from old fence posts. Follow the wraparound porch past hanging baskets exploding with purple petunias to a tiny greenhouse in the front yard full of containers planted with herbs and flowers. Metal arches and garden furniture litter the lawn outside the house.
Just inside, shoppers with knowing noses will follow the aroma to a bank of shelves stocked with “Earth Elements” potpourri. Pressed-rose-petal gift boxes, sea-mist incense and fresh lavender sachets complete the front room’s garden bouquet. Vintage travel posters and fashion prints dot a sunflower room a few steps away that’s packed with whitewashed, primitive furniture. Step toward the back of the house, past beaded baubles dripping from bistro hooks, to a provincial great room punctuated by a 16-foot-long harvest table.
This store’s folky feel really unfolds upstairs, where decorative, old-fashioned wall signs sporting sayings like “Garden Tools” and “Ooo La La,” along with vintage dishware, stuffed animals and plush throws fill every corner. Shoppers can even browse while they’re in the bathroom as a cabinet stocked with cucumber honeydew and marine spa body mist and shower scrubs strategically hangs on the wall opposite the commode.
What’s it cost? Painted paper parasol, $6.50; working 1950s fan, $35; Kennebunk Home multicolor knit throw, $54; oversized architectural star, $79; antique harvest table, $1,195.
– Elana Ashanti Jefferson
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Olde Huckleberry House
11605 Olde Wadsworth Blvd.,
Broomfield, 303-464-8740
