Antiquing in the Hudson Valley Yet Another Way to Go Green
For several reasons, the Hudson Valley is a mecca for antique lovers. The valley has four-hundred-plus years of people living in houses and using durable goods, for one thing, and a top-shelf community of passionate dealers and collectors industriously ferreting out and lovingly curating artifacts, for another. Put these together with a tourist trade and a populace that appreciates such things, and you’ve got the recipe for Antique Heaven.
Antiques, officially defined as items over 100 years old, and vintage items, which capture those items aged between 20 and 99, are often of a level of quality that’s hard to find among their mass-produced descendants. A piece of furniture crafted from fine hardwood with dovetail joints is an entirely different animal than a glued-together modern item. A great vintage pin or necklace probably won’t cost more than the latest trinket from the mall and inspires dreaming: what fine lady or gent once sported this on what elegant occasion in the days of yore? And, better yet, no new resources were consumed to create your newfound treasure—antiques are the ultimate refurbished goods.
If you’re looking for the thrill of a “score” and hoping to find a piece that’s worth more than what you’re paying or that will appreciate in value as years pass, it’s not a bad idea to do your homework with a good book or some online study of early Americana.
Google is a good friend here; most categories of antique and vintage items have collectors who gather at websites devoted to comparing notes about their favorites.
Do your fieldwork too. The Hudson Valley is laced with shops of all sizes and descriptions and has become a world-class antiquing destination. It’s a business many are in for love, and if you catch proprietors at a quiet moment, many love nothing more than to fill you in on the history of a particular treasure and the criteria they use in spotting good ones.
Get familiar with where to look for maker’s marks and what a patina looks like, haunt local barn and estate sales in season, and you may find yourself discovering a treasure for a fraction of its actual value. They’re still out there in the wild. Look for random mystery items that the seller may not have bothered even to identify; a vintage corn planter plucked from a rusty pile of items beside a Catskills garage for a dollar brought its finder fifty dollars on eBay, for example.
The odds of a “score” may be lower in shopping with the experts, since they’ve already put in the time and energy and done the research—but competition keeps prices within reason, and the age of the surrounding community means you will pay less for a good old item in the Hudson Valley than you might in parts west. Look for well-established dealers with a reputation to uphold; in a market as educated as the HV, shysters don’t last. And remember, today’s vintage collectible is your grandchild’s valuable antique.
So consider doing some of your holiday shopping at the antique mall instead of the mall-mall. You’ll find home goods, wearables, art, books, and much more. And nothing could be greener (antique folks were the original recyclers) or more thoughtful than a carefully chosen piece of history. Hot in 2014, according to Homes and Antiques magazine, are art deco pieces, pearls, and lusterware, along with the offbeat in general (when does offbeat ever go out of style?) and shiny pretty things overall. It has, the magazine informs us, become trendy to mix antique pieces with contemporary items, in case you were waiting for someone’s permission.
But as with any non- essential purchase, the most important factor is love. Buy the pieces that stir your heart, and you’ll never go wrong. Buy things you will love to look at and use, that are truly you, and you’ll become part of that item’s lore as it changes hands over the years, just as it has become part of your life.
Featured Local Antique Shops
#1 Downtown Antiques
23 Main Street
Accord, NY 12404
845-706-1070
#2 Antiques Barn at
Water Street Market
10 Main Street
New Paltz, NY 12561
waterstreetmarket.com
845-255-1403
#3 Village Antique Center
at Hyde Park
4321 Albany Post Road (Route 9)
Hyde Park, NY 12538
845-229-6600
#4 The Hyde Park
Antiques Center
4192 Albany
Post Road (Route 9)
Hyde Park, NY 12538
hydeparkantiques.net
845-229-8200
#5 Dew Drop
Inn Antique Center
3052 Route 9
Cold Spring, NY 10516
845-265-4358
#6 Rhinebeck Antique
Emporium
5229 Albany Post Road
Staatsburg, NY 12580
rhinebeckantiqueemporium.com
845-876-8168
#7 JMW Auction Gallery
612 Washington Avenue
Kingston, NY 12401
jmwauction.com
845-339-4133
#8 Hoffman's Barn
19 Old Farm Road
Red Hook, NY 12571
hoffmansbarn.com
845-758-5668
#9 George Cole
Auctions & Realty
7578 North Broadway (Route 9)
Red Hook, NY 12571
georgecoleauctions.com
845-758-9114
845-876-8168
#10 Annex Antiques
Center
7578 North
Broadway (Route 9)
Red Hook, NY 12571
845-758-2843
#11 Spruce
Design+Decor:
Mid-Century Antiques
20 West Market Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
sprucedesigndecor.com
845-876-5864
#12 The Rhinebeck
Trading Post
38 E Market Street
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
rhinebecktradingpost.net
845-663-3224
#13 Beekman Arms
Antique Market
Behind The Beekman
Arms and Delamater
Inn Route
9 Rhinebeck
24 W Market St,
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
beekmandelamaterinn.com
/market.htm
845-876-3477
#14 Ole Carousel
Antiques Center
6208 Route 82
Stanfordville, NY 12581
olecarouselantiquescenter.com
845-868-1586Antiques
