Sunday, March 23, 2014

European Country Antiques


Let's take a tour of European Country Antiques in the Huron Village
area on Cambridge's west side.


The store is at 146 Huron Avenue near the corner of Concord Avenue.
Huron Village is primarily a residential area but within a few blocks of this
intersection are some of Cambridge's finest independently owned shops.



But once you step through the door, you're in a different place and time...
a place that embraces you with its warm honey-toned woods, beautiful
painted antiques just waiting to tell you their personal stories.



The shop's website says the shop captures the authenticity of
true European countryside shops, the ones stacked to the limit with
furniture, where every time you move one piece you discover another.


Many of the antiques are in their original form.  Oh, how I wish I
had a place for this large cabinet!


Other pieces, such as this kitchen island, have been built from
reclaimed antique furniture pieces into modern forms.  There is storage
on one side, room to tuck a few bar stools on the other, all capped
off with a butcher block top with tons of patina.


There a lots of great lamps, these made from old balusters...


...urns and other architectural fragments...


...lots of great vintage and antique accessories...



...wonderful rustic tables....


...and unique case pieces to display your finest wares...


...all with incredible details.


This is another favorite piece.


A great Scottish chest of drawers.



And a nice selection of mirrors.


This trestle table is from one  of the store's custom lines.
Their tables come in two different woods, three different leg styles
and in a variety of finishes.



If you've been searching for that one special piece to finish of a room and you
don't find it here, talk to store manager Angela, or owner Ed Stuart, about the
possibility of making a custom piece designed just for you.



European Country Antiques is about a mile from Harvard Square.  On a nice day,
I would walk down Brattle Street to see all the old mansions, particularly the Longfellow
House where George Washington lived for a short time during the Revolutionary war.
Take a right on Sparks Street and walk to the end which is Huron Avenue.  ECA is on the
right just past Concord Avenue.

But I would drive so you can visit all the great shops along Huron Avenue.  There were
several that were now to me so I can't wait to get over there and explore again.



Be sure to tell them I sent you!


European Country Antiques
146 Huron Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02138








44 comments:

  1. We'll be in Maine for a week in late July, with a side trip to B-Town for a Sox game. I'm hoping to persuade my SO to take a side trip to Cambridge - thanks for the tour of the shop Steve - I just love these things!

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    1. A week in Maine in July sounds like perfection. Lots to do and see in Boston and Cambridge is just across the river so it's barely a side trip to your side trip. We're just a few minutes from Fenway.

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    2. Swooon. It is just what it says it trys to be. Chalk full! Gorgeous pieces. If I find myself near Harvard square in the near future. I will pop in! {chances of that aren't very high...sigh}

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  2. Oh, wow, what a great shop! Loved the tour. Thanks!
    Claudia

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  3. I would love to wander around this shop and area. Your armoire is beautiful and perfect for your kitchen.

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  4. I see a lot of pieces I want for Maine!! Look forward to a spring visit. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. Loi,
      That gray piece made me think of you but there are definitely some other great options too.

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  5. Now that was a fun trip. The last time we were in Boston I made my husband go with me to the Longfellow house. We were both English majors and both had been taught that Longfellow was not a bright light. I said we're here. We're going. So glad we did. I came away with a greater appreciation for his view of America and have come to think of his poetry as early day rap to help the common folks remember their incredible history. How house to explain that galloping meter?

    I'm thinking we need another trip to Boston!

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    1. Early day rap! I'll have to take another look at his work with that new filter. I've actually never toured the house but heard it's great...and beautiful gardens too.

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  6. I was watching This Old House this morning and they were talking to a kitchen designer and she was showing kitchen displays and saying how large freestanding cupboards were popular rather than the traditional cabinets. She showcased a HUGE cupboard that opened up into a pantry and then another that was actually a refrigerator with 2 freezers!
    It was so cool and I immediately thought of you.
    And now this post, that large cabinet could have been a pantry.
    Thanks for the tour. You do live in a beautiful part of the country!

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    1. Is it the house they're doing right now in Arlington? I have them on my DVR; I'd like to see that.

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  7. Thanks for the virtual tour! I think I wanted everything in that shop. Of course I don't have room for anything even if I won the lottery, but it sure was fun window shopping with you.

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  8. What a wonderful store. I love the Scottish chest of drawers. It's very similar to one we have here at home in NZ that came out with my ancestors - the turned side detail and drawer handles are almost identical.

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    1. That was one of my favorites. You're luck to have such a piece that's been handed down through your family.

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  9. Oh I love finding new places! Thank you for the intro!!

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  10. Now that was just SICK !!! Have to cut this short. Gotta clean the drool off my keyboard.


    Karen

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  11. This store looks like a small piece of design heaven :-)

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  12. Oh my gosh...you wouldn't mind grabbing that black trestle table with the two board top and hauling it ot Calfornia would you? I promise good food, good wine and a nice comfy bed!!

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  13. We just bought a 'new' home and will be renovating it soon. What a disaster. I absolutely love your blog and the way you describe the things you're doing. It gives me hope.

    Cielo

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  14. Congratulations on your new house! I know how you feel. I had my periods of regret, especially at the beginning, but you just have to break it down into different projects and focus on one thing at a time. Take lots of "before" photos so you can see the progress you've made every now and then. It's really rewarding as you mark each project off your list. Good luck with your project!

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  15. This was a walk down memory lane. I moved from Boston just two years ago and have purchased several pieces from Ed. Such a great guy. He always had a nice selection. Does he still have his shed out back stocked with more antiques?
    Judy G.

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    1. Judy,
      I'm glad I could bring you back home if just for a few minutes. Yes, the shed in back is still open; filled mostly with beautiful tables.

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  16. Oh my what a beautiful shop! I would love to go there and your account of it all sounds just perfect- I can almost smell the wood. How lovely you can walk there. Happy spring Steve! Xo Nancy

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  17. I love places like this!! No surprise that I was ooohing and aaahhing over those same two pieces that you called out as favorites of yours.

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  18. What a store...treasure pleasure!! franki

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  19. Just around the corner from a friend of mine, I'll have to drop in!

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  20. Ooooh, my kind of store. I want that table, heck I want it all.

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  21. Oh, I need to go there. I wish Calgary had a past...besides cows and wagons.

    xo Terri

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  22. Hi, Steve,

    Thanks for letting us join you in that great store. I can see it's a great place to glean ideas, as well as to buy. Those lamps made from the old balusters are the coolest marriage of old and new, a brilliant idea.

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  23. How did I miss this post?? Dang! I studied every single image. Just beautiful. I love love old pieces.

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  24. I drove by this shop around Christmas time and I vowed to go back. I recently made a Spring bucket list and this store was on it! Isn't there a cool kitchen store around that area too?.

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  25. Wonderful tour and reason to go to venture into Cambridge! What goody did you buy?

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  26. I'd love to check this gorgeous shop out! Your kitchen, by the way, is exquisitely done. Congratulations! (My husband has been in Boston for almost 8 weeks doing The Seagull at the Huntington Theater. Only one more week in the run. I wanted to visit Boston, but he's staying in a 3rd floor walk-up and our dog simply can't handle that many stairs.)

    xo
    Claudia

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  27. Nice. I want that clock or the cabinet at the top. A great place to put on the list to visit!

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  28. This is SO New England...just so many beautiful pieces. There is no place like this in LA. How fun to live so close to so much history!

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  29. OMG... I think I'm in love with that store! I just moved to the South Sho-ah a week before Christmas after living for 15 years in Texas. We live in a historical area and my husband and I (empty nesters) are renovating a colonial that was built in 1890. I love your blog and I'm going to put you on my blogroll so I don't miss a single post. Now I am going back and reading some of your older posts!! I'm going to go to this store this weekend!!

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    1. Katie,
      Welcome to the Northeast. You moved at the perfect time to enjoy one of our worst winters in many years. You picked up the accent very quickly, too!

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  30. What a treasure trove! If I got to pick any piece to take home (which would be a lucky day indeed), it would have to be that Scottish chest of drawers. It is spectacular.

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  31. That is definitely a good shopping destination!

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