Print Article
Located on East Tenth Street in Springfield, Vanderleigh Furniture & Antiques occupies a building constructed in 1922 as People's Grocery Store. Today, the structure has been restored into a unique live/work loft.
About Vanderleigh Furniture & Antiques
Quote
Established in 2005, is located in a historic landmark just blocks north of downtown Jacksonville and within one mile of I-95.
While originally especializing in Dutch Colonial furniture and artifacts from Southeast Asia, Vanderleigh has recently expanded its' 7000 square feet on inventory to include a large selectionof European and American items which run the gamut from 18th Century Windsor chairs to Lucite furniture from the 1970's.
At Vanderleigh you can expect to find dining tables, chairs, armoires, sideboards, coffe tables, sofas, benches, settees, side tables, mirrors screens, barsm statuary, lamps, outdoor furniture, and architectural elements.
Please take time to stop in. You are sure to find that Vanderleigh is one of Jacksonvilles' unexpected pleasures.
While originally especializing in Dutch Colonial furniture and artifacts from Southeast Asia, Vanderleigh has recently expanded its' 7000 square feet on inventory to include a large selectionof European and American items which run the gamut from 18th Century Windsor chairs to Lucite furniture from the 1970's.
At Vanderleigh you can expect to find dining tables, chairs, armoires, sideboards, coffe tables, sofas, benches, settees, side tables, mirrors screens, barsm statuary, lamps, outdoor furniture, and architectural elements.
Please take time to stop in. You are sure to find that Vanderleigh is one of Jacksonvilles' unexpected pleasures.
http://www.vanderleigh.com/about.php
Building History Timeline
1922 - Construction completion date according to the property appraiser's office.
1929 - Building and address first show up in the annual Jacksonville City Directory.
1929 - People's Grocery opens. Hyman S. Goffin occupies a residence upstairs.
1933 - People's Grocery closes
1950 - Retail storefront is now occupied by D M Vaden Co, Inc. Refrigators Sales & Service.
1970 - First decade in Jacksonville City Directory with Hyman S. Goffin not listed as one of the upstairs tenants.
1980 - Retail space is vacant.
1990 - Retail space is vacant.
2000 - Retail space is vacant.
2005 - Vanderleigh Furniture & Antiques opens.
Source: Jacksonville City Directories, Jacksonville Public Library Special Collections Department.
Vanderleigh Furniture & Antiques is located at 334 East 10th Street in the heart of the Springfield Historic District.
View Larger Map
For more information visit: http://www.vanderleigh.com/about.php
Photos by Daniel Herbin
Share this article
RSS
fsu813
November 25, 2009, 08:08:35 AMI've visited.....a very nice place....
02roadking
November 25, 2009, 08:21:48 AMWow
strider
November 25, 2009, 08:39:21 AMA great building with a great new use. This is another example of how the overlay would have prevented this project, but a zoning change (in this case, RMD to CRO) made it possible.
zoo
November 25, 2009, 08:43:35 AMGreat urban design in retail space below and residential space above. Haven't been by in awhile, but will make a point to stop in over the holiday weekend. Per website, hours are:
Open Wednesday-Saturday
10:00 AM- 5:00 PM
(Except 2nd Wed-Sat of each month)
thelakelander
November 25, 2009, 09:13:55 AMI just added a historical outline of the building to the article from information found in the Jacksonville City Directories.
chris farley
November 25, 2009, 09:18:40 AMI bought two chairs there and love them to death. They also do absoutely great furniture refinishing.
Dapperdan
November 25, 2009, 09:52:06 AMIs someone living upstairs? I miss the days of store owners living above their stores.
thelakelander
November 25, 2009, 10:03:33 AMThe owner lives upstairs.
nestliving
November 25, 2009, 10:59:15 AMone of the best retail spaces in Jacksonville. every time I drive past i get jealous...
stephendare
November 25, 2009, 12:02:44 PMHe has extraordinary taste in his inventory. There is a group of french designed chairs from the sixties that are brilliant.
Wacca Pilatka
November 25, 2009, 12:10:38 PMDo they sell any Jacksonville-specific artifacts?
will
November 25, 2009, 03:41:58 PMI've purchased a few large pieces from Vanderleigh. Most of what I've bought has been teak furniture that the owner (Walter Kingston) personally imported from Indonesia. He has gone on extended trips there to search the local towns and villages for interesting pieces - mostly leftovers from the Dutch colonial period. He's also just a generally fascinating character. Ask him to show you his slides from his Asian travel over the years. It's better than National Geographic.
jeh1980
November 26, 2009, 01:27:35 PMI strongly disagree about Jacksonville being known for embracing demolition.
thelakelander
November 26, 2009, 08:07:06 PMThat's fine but the communities of LaVilla, Brooklyn, Downtown, East Jacksonville, etc. would suggest otherwise.
duchessd
November 27, 2009, 05:17:16 PMWhat a fantastic piece on Vanderleigh Antiques, thanks! While Walter still has a few pieces of teak furniture from Indonesia, he and I are now really focusing on more design/decorator oriented antiques and artwork. So if you spot a piece that you love in a design magazine, let us know and we will keep a look out for you while on buying trips. And if art is your thing, please stop in to see the unique, ever-evolving collection from listed and undiscovered artists. I tend to lean toward mid-century art, but a few months back a pair of ancestral portraits grabbed my attention and found their way to the shop. One never knows what they'll find when poking their head into an antique shop and Vanderleigh is no exception! See you soon.
gogators07
November 28, 2009, 03:14:58 PMwent today and found the prices to be insanely out of touch with reality. one lamp we saw was priced $145 -- despite the fact that it was a basic wood lamp that could be purchased at most local estate sales for less than $25.
seriously -- everything was overpriced.
stephendare
November 28, 2009, 03:32:45 PMlol gators. Welcome to how much stuff really costs. Vandeleighs inventory is not only amazing, but its a little underpriced.
Just because things are made out of the same material doesnt mean that they are therefore the same value.
After all the mona lisa is only made out of paint and canvass, which you can buy at a lot of garage sales for less than 25 dollars as well.
Its also a great local springfield business that any neighborhood anywhere would be proud to have!
Quality costs money. But by all means, shop where you can afford!
stephendare
November 28, 2009, 03:38:57 PMPeople buy antiques for the history of the piece. I know that when I made a decision to purchase, Im intensely interested in the history of the object Im buying.
Take for example, this chair from Walters Collection, The Windsor Chair.
"The Windsor chair originated in. England around 1700 (in the vicinity of Windsor Castle ).The chair is characterized by a bentwood frame,splayed legs and a saddle seat.
The chair first appeared in the American colonies at Philadelphia around 1725 and shortly thereafter became the predominant chair for common use, appearing in its infinite variations of fan,hoop, and bow back.
The chair in the photo was most probably made in Rhode Island about 1780. It bears its original paint. The hand grips were replaced at some time during its history. No other repairs are evident."
--Now thats an interesting piece to have in your house, in my opinion.
I would love to know who originally owned it. It was made in between the war for independence and the Constitutional Convention. If it was in Rhode Island, there must be an interesting story to go along with it.
Its not just some peice you can buy at a yard sale.
gogators07
November 28, 2009, 03:41:00 PMwrong stephen.
great space. great idea/ even great business.
but OVERPRICED. everyone in our party agreed. we are talking about just about every single thing in the shop.
say what you want -- but if you think those prices are too low or just right then your connection to reality is far more tenuous than i believed.
stephendare
November 28, 2009, 05:18:06 PMWell to each his own, gogators.
We all found the prices to be much lower than expected for the quality of the merchandise.
thelakelander
November 28, 2009, 05:18:56 PMThis thread isn't about a discussion on whether people believe the antiques are overpriced or affordable. Its an article on the preservation and reuse of a historic structure in Jacksonville. Something, that based on our city's history, tends to be an exception to the rule. Let's keep it on topic.
Ocklawaha
November 28, 2009, 10:10:28 PMseriously -- everything was overpriced.
Sorry Gogators, this is not a Big Lots Franchise, which is where most people go that find cheap stuff. It would be obvious to most that one would not visit Vanderleigh Furniture & Antiques, any more then they would Ethan Allen, or Scan Design, for bargain prices.
There is furniture then there is furniture, in the upper end of the field are one of a kind pieces, where craftsmen still sign their work. These stores might still hide a bargain or two within their field, but would be a much higher quality then a discounter such as Sticks and Stuff, Walmart, Target, Rooms to Go, or American Signature. High Quality furniture also has some other typical traits, such as precision fit dovetail joints, exotic and often rare hardwoods, solids and veneer's, or stunning use of glass and industrial materials. Better furniture also includes detailing with minute attention to things like a split veneer with mirrored pieces, as well as expensive hardware. Ironically you will NOT find use of cardboard, furniture board, hardboard, staples, tacks, nails, glues or screws, real quality needs these things only in sparse quantity's, the art is hidden in the fit and finish. Equally exotic fabrics, upholstery, and stitching are another common factor, in fact high end has even been found to sometimes contain 24k gold threads, gem stones, porcelain etc.
Middle of the road, "family" and "Room ready" furniture stores may have a few of the above qualities, mixed with low cost fabrics, and sturdy but crude joints with screws, nails and glues. Glass and steel are usually mixed with the furniture both to give a faux finish as well as expedite a quick and cheap finish.
Deep Discounters, such as Big Lots, Walmart, Target or K-Mart, almost always is full of cardboard, paper, furniture or press boards, and can even require assembly. The stuff is extremely heavy and the longer "boards" tend to break, snapping like glass, or sometimes sagging to ridiculous perportions. The "wood" finishes are simple photographic overlays on thin paper applied to pressed sawdust, hardly the stuff of the DuPont, Ball, Davis, Flagler, Rockerfeller or Getty family.
...And Ock would know this why?
Well I love quality furnishing, and maybe come by that through genetics, furnishing railcars has been in my family for a over a century. The Mann Car Company built PV's and sleeping cars, creating most of the patents that would become The Pullman Company. Bet y'all never figured how I'd turn this thread into more train talk, but then again try furnishing a train at Big Lots! Yeah Lunican, REAL trains.
OCKLAWAHA
sheclown
November 29, 2009, 08:39:59 AMQuality construction is why we love these old Springfield houses.
Our society turned away from respecting craftsmanship in favor of planned obsolescence a long time ago, check out the landfills.
gogators07
November 29, 2009, 09:24:02 AMso the 1970s faux marble table lamp (as it was labeled) with a new lampshade (probably from walmart, target, lowes, etc) priced at $400 is indicative of quality construction and a non-disposable culture?
all i did was express an opinion -- shared by every other person who went with me last week that the prices were absurdly high. even -- especisally -- by antique standards. by standards of shops we had visited around the country and the city. not by wal-mart, thift store, or pawn shop standards.
that is to take nothing away from the great space, location, decor, etc.
but it seems that for a business to be successful, it might also want to know what some of its potential customers think -- good and bad.
there are so many guard dogs on this site now it is crazy -- and sorry to say -- very spar-like.
thelakelander
November 29, 2009, 09:37:32 AMExpress it and keep moving. SPAR really has nothing to do with this thread so lets keep the Springfield politics out of it. Part of the reason these threads continue to get off topic is because adults can't voice their opinion and move on if someone disagrees with them. In addition, every Tom, Dick and Harry has to get the last word in on something that has absolutely nothing to do with main topic of the thread. In this case, that topic is historic preservation and adaptive reuse of a building.
If anyone has anything to say in this thread that does not relate to the topic at hand, feel free to use the PM system or contact a site moderator. Thanks for your cooperation in keeping Metro Jacksonville a decent place to visit.
lindab
November 29, 2009, 12:19:12 PMSaw a news story last nite about adaptive reuse in a different sense; it focused on reuse of scrap or discarded building materials.
A man in Huntsville, Texas has made a mission of using discarded lumber, shingles, and other construction trash to create unique low income homes. So far he has built 14 homes often with the advice or assistance of the future homeowners. The community supports his effort and donates scrap materials for his work. The man is a real artist as well as a builder. The images shown of his work show a care for design even if he is using mismatched salvage material.
Here is the link for the September article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/garden/03recycle.html
sheclown
November 29, 2009, 01:54:16 PMTo a much lesser degree, Joe and I did this with our house on 5th Street. We used left overs from all the jobs we had done over the years. The tile work is interesting! And so is the kitchen. It was fun to be so creative and in the end, it looks wonderful.
lindab
November 29, 2009, 02:41:23 PMI think saving old buildings where possible is a good thing for our community and for the history of a place. But when I see how much we throw away in demolition of structures, it is an even better thing to adapt and reuse.
sheclown
November 29, 2009, 03:12:34 PMwell said, lindab
stephendare
November 29, 2009, 03:19:15 PMI love this space and the shop that has opened there.
Vanderleighs took an abandoned building and turned it into something that any neighborhood would be proud of!
chris farley
November 29, 2009, 10:48:31 PMActually it was not abandoned when Walter bought it. Paul Shockey owned it before him and sold it to Walter, but Paul did an incredible amount of restoration work to the downstairs. I saw it when he first closed on it and again when he had done restorations, ready for resale. I believe that Walter restored the upstairs, either way the place is beautiful - the lovely outside is all Walter.
thelakelander
November 29, 2009, 10:52:28 PMWhat year did Paul Shockey purchase it? The City Directory in the Library's Special Collections Department shows it as being vacant in 2000. Did Paul purchase and restore it after 2000?
strider
November 30, 2009, 08:18:54 AMIt looks like Shockey's company purchased it in 2001. The best way to find things like this is the property appraisers data base and you can see the recorded sales. They must also have gotten the zoning change/ exception that was done in 2003. (You can tell zoning changes by looking at the older property record cards and checking the zoning. Technically, I can't confirm the exception, but as they went through the process to change the zoning from RMD to CRO, then we can assume they did it all including the exception so it could be a live/ work/ retail loft.)
chris farley
November 30, 2009, 08:24:08 AMYes I believe it was early 2002, - probably as Venture Resources, I will check, I know he owned it, he walked me around to show me all the great things he had done. I will check but talk to him or Walter. When he was selling it to Walter he brought him to the Business Assn. to introduce him. I know he did a tremendous amount of work, opening up the downstairs. He has the history on the building, he told me it was a grocery store and that the family lived upstairs. I do not think he flipped it since he had it quite a while.
chris farley
November 30, 2009, 08:32:40 AMLate 2001 makes sense, (I didn't bother to look in the property appraiser, at this point, I made had made my post as Strider was making his) it was 2002 when he walked me around it. I do not know why the zoning change was needed, since it had been a shop with living quarters. I know he was calling it "The Fort",
This is not to take away from Walter he has done incredible work and the place and its contents are marvellous.
On the city records you need to check and recheck and sometimes follow the bodies.
Ernest Street
November 30, 2009, 08:52:45 AMThe downstairs ceiling with the exposed trusses looks fantastic and was probably a labor of love on a scaffolding for HOURS!
I love the adaptive reuse of the chain and poles out front..(anti Smash and grab barriers no less)
chris farley
November 30, 2009, 09:02:57 AMPaul exposed the trusses
Ennis not to go off subject, but the 2000 book - the 2000 is the year published, the info would be gleaned in 1999. I know this to be so from many researches, even for witnesses in a trial. The buildings down here have been dated by the directories, they were used in the home tour books, but all of the buildings are at least one or maybe two years older than that. I was looking at a house on the Boulevard, which was given as 1917, then by chance I found a photograph of it newly built (in the FTU) in 1915. In the past plaster houses had to stand for several months before they could be lived in also.
Paul and Tony may have photos of the inside when it was bought
stephendare
November 30, 2009, 09:24:46 AMI toured the building when Paul bought it, Chris. It was abandoned then, and its come a long long way!
Atari007
November 30, 2009, 10:10:41 AMNo mention of the Importing and Exporting business? Oh wait.. that was Vandelay Industries... my bad...
chris farley
November 30, 2009, 01:05:12 PMQuote
In a city known for embracing demolition before preservation, Vanderleigh Furniture & Antiques is a refreshing change which illustrates the benefit of historic restoration and adaptive reuse on Jacksonville's urban landscape.unquote
Sorry to offend atari, but it was about the building also, I have nothing but great respect for Walter and Vanderleigh - tell us about the business
duchessd
December 01, 2009, 01:13:26 PMgogators07, thanks for visiting the shop and taking a look around. Half the battle of having an antique shop located in Springfield is getting people to walk through the door, so on behalf of Vanderleigh: Thank you! In addition we value your feedback and comments, especially as a potential customer, so I would like to take a quick moment to address your critique.
Walter and I are discriminating when stocking the store with inventory, as the quality, variety, and price suggests. You are correct, in that many of the pieces can be found at local garage and estate sales. Good design is available to anyone at any price if one is willing to put the time into such endeavor. Many of our pieces are not simply purchased and then resold, we take the time to clean, repair, upholster, and refinish merchandise when needed.
Now, I must clarify some erroneous comments in your postings: 1) The 70s table lamp is made of real Italian marble (as noted on the tag) and weighs approx 20lbs, 2)This same lamp is adorned with a new string shade from Tiffany's lighting (the shade alone cost $80), 3)The common wood lamp as you referred to it, is actually from the 40s and is inlaid with several different woods in intricate patterns, the lamp has been rewired and tightened to preserve the inlay.
While Vanderleigh Antiques will not fit every budget, we do provide quality antiques at affordable prices as evidenced by our many dealer and decorator clients who seek us out when shopping antique markets around the country. Plus as I am sure you are aware that most every antique store offers discounts; haggling price is one of the fun aspects of buying antiques!
We look forward to seeing you at the shop again soon.
all i did was express an opinion -- shared by every other person who went with me last week that the prices were absurdly high. even -- especisally -- by antique standards. by standards of shops we had visited around the country and the city. not by wal-mart, thift store, or pawn shop standards.
that is to take nothing away from the great space, location, decor, etc.
but it seems that for a business to be successful, it might also want to know what some of its potential customers think -- good and bad.
there are so many guard dogs on this site now it is crazy -- and sorry to say -- very spar-like.
stephendare
December 01, 2009, 03:24:51 PMsheclown
December 01, 2009, 05:58:38 PMMakes sense to me.
chris farley
December 01, 2009, 09:28:05 PMDuchessd - the two chairs I bought, I think are from the 50s. I had them reupholstered and I love love love them
stephendare
January 06, 2010, 02:38:48 PMOne of the coolest things about antiques is the story that goes with each piece. To be honest, at least half of the value of the furniture (to me) is the story that it tells.
1950's Italian Chest
"This commode was built shortly after WWII. When acquired by Vanderleigh it was painted, subsequently it has been stripped, bleached, and given a coating of flat polyurethane."
1930's French Mirrored Side-Table in the Style of Jules Leleu:
"Jules Leleu was the patriarch of the House of Leleu, which reached its zenith in the years proceeding WWII. Leleu in addition to furniture making, was known for lavish private interiors and large scaled corporate projects, designing everything from ocean liners to embassies."
My prize posession in terms of antiques is probably the dining room table that has been featured in a few articles about boomtown. Its 10 ft long, and was built in 1877, and as chance would have it, contains many quirky little coincidences in the decor of my life.
stephendare
January 06, 2010, 03:23:06 PMBtw. I love this thing!.
Industrial Cart: Used early 20th c. in factory to transport parts etc. Wooden planks on top surface have been replaced/refinished for home use as a coffee table.
samiam
January 06, 2010, 04:44:56 PMAlso the reuse of furniture is great for the environment. 75% of the furniture in my house is antique/vintage and was purchased at a fraction of the cost of new furniture. Most furniture built prior to WWII was meant to last several generations (some mid century furniture is of the same quality) furniture made of real wood can be repaired, most modern furniture is made of veneered MDF or particle board and once it is damaged or gets wet its garbage.
The greenest house is one that is already built
sheclown
January 07, 2010, 08:03:48 AMI love that "coffee table." What a great idea!