Jan and John Maggs Antiques
Conway, Massachusetts
Newsletter -- February 28, 2006
This property could be yours!!
Our big news this month is that, after twenty years of hard work and loving care, we are about to offer our Conway home for sale.
Just over a year ago we purchased a large parcel of land in neighboring Ashfield. The property is the last unimproved portion of what was in 1900 a 1000-acre dairy farm. The parcel is densely wooded and contains at least two small streams which flow into the brook that forms our southern boundary. Last winter we cleared a six-acre building site and turned scores of large spruce, hemlock, and pine trees into the lumber from which we're building a small barn, a small antiques shop, a porch, and a garage. These four buildings will complement the central structure on the property -- the modest cape that will be built for us and will become our new home.
Our home in Conway will go on the market in early March. The house, built in successive stages from about 1760 through the late nineteenth century, dominates Pumpkin Hollow common, the historic center of Conway. We are surrounded by protected pasture land on the north and west, and look out of our south windows at an early graveyard.
The house itself has about 3600 square feet of living space, including a large keeping room, a cook's kitchen with restaurant stove, two formal parlors, four bedrooms, three baths, three pantries (!), and five working fireplaces, including a walk-in fireplace with beehive oven in the keeping room. A pair of French doors in the kitchen leads to an eighteenth century post-and-beam barn that we converted into a screened/glazed porch (heaven in the summertime). In 1998 we built a two-car garage, which joins the house to the outbuildings.
The first outbuilding consists of two early 20th century sheds, which we've enclosed and insulated and now use as a woodworking shop. The shop leads to the magnificent barn that dominates the valley. Our antiques shop, which uses less than one quarter of the barn, contains our principal showroom and an office. Both are insulated and heated. The barn has a full basement, a second floor, and ample space for a third above it.
We developed the property as our business was growing, so the various barn spaces are tailored to our needs. Because they are large, they might easily be adapted to myriad alternate uses: a studio and display space for an artist or artisan, a shop complex (perhaps even for another antiques dealer), a bed and breakfast, or ....?
If you know of someone who is looking for a well-maintained property like ours, in a community with outstanding schools and friendly neighbors, suggest that they call or e-mail us. We are being represented by one of the areas leading realtors, who lives in Conway and happens to be a good friend and customer as well. We invite serious inquiries, and will be happy to answer your questions. (See This Month's Feature, below, for new pictures of the interior.)
UPCOMING SHOWS
Several years ago we annually enjoyed Forbes and Turner's summer show on the grounds of Connecticut College in New London. Therefore, we were pleased to learn the Country Cape Antiques Shows will present a show on the campus on March and very happy to be a part of it.
For more information, click here.
This year's Guilford show will be on March 25 & 26, at the Elisabeth Adams School, as usual.
For details, click here.
ADVANCE NOTICE
Paul Davis Shows' Concord show, cancelled earlier this month because of the blizzard has been rescheduled.
The new date is Sunday, April 30.
Details and show cards will appear in our March newsletter.
Click here for our complete show schedule for 2006.
This Month's Featured Inventory
American Furniture
An exceptional Sheraton work table with cherry two-board top [#16795]
A pair of country Queen Anne side chairs [#16759]
An 18th century banister back side chair [#16792] SOLD
Another 18th century banister back side chair [#16437] SOLD
Smalls
A 19th century woven straw bee skep [#16789] SOLD
A brass gate from a ticket window [#16788]
Two early 17th century Spanish or Portuguese brass candle holders:
one with octagonal base [#00259]
the other with square base [#00261] SOLD
A petite treenware sander
Hearth equipment
A rare large pot lifter with integral crane hook [#11279]
Jewelry
(In Jan's little black showcase for years; new to our website this month)
Georgian rose-cut diamond ring [#15221]
Georgian silver and paste earrings [#16088]
Georgian almandine garnet earrings [#16344]
Georgian emerald paste necklet [#16719]
This month we offer a few views of the interior of our Conway home. Click here.
Tales of the Trade
As many of you have heard, the "Blizzard of 06" forced cancellation of Paul Davis' Concord Show. For an inside look at events leading up to the cancellation, click here.
The Back Page
Links
Click to visit the Jan and John Maggs Antiques website.
Click for directions to our shop.
Click for links to all past issues of this Newsletter.
For additional links to businesses and places of interest, visit our Links Page.
Thanks for taking the time to read our little monthly. As always, we encourage you to e-mail any comments that might make the newsletter more useful to you. Just click the mailbox, or write to jmaggs@jmaggs.com.
And we thank you for being a customer.
John and Jan