The Cottage
Tranquil antique shop on South Ave. one of the best kept secrets in Harrisonburg
Posted on February 11, 2008
The Cottage lies hidden between two larger buildings on South Avenue. It’s easy to miss, especially if you’re not looking for it. But those who have ventured inside the unique and eclectic store have discovered one of the best kept secrets of the ’Burg.
Voted the best gift shop by The Daily News-Record, The Cottage is co-owned by Michael Logan and Nancy Rollman, whose husband teaches in the communications studies department at JMU. They have been in business for two-and-a-half years.
“We had the opportunity for the building,” Rollman said. “My partner’s parents owned the building, his great grandfather built the building and it was sitting empty and we thought it was the perfect setting for a great store.”
The brief description of The Cottage, which appears on their bags, describes their merchandise as “vintage furniture and accessories, wonderful gifts and cool junk.” These eight words pretty much sum up the products that The Cottage sells, but doesn’t portray the experience of shopping there.
The store is set up like the downstairs of a small house, with rooms leading off from the foyer. One room containing antique kitchenware and painted glassware is complete with a countertop and sink. A faux fireplace sits in the main room and is adorned with picture frames and plants. Signs with familiar sayings such as “Home Away From Home” and “Believe” fill the walls. It takes a few trips through all the rooms to examine the extensive amount of furniture, picture frames, lamps, books, house ware and piles of old baseballs, pool balls, buttons and jewelry.
Rollman describes the mix as “a nice blend of old and new.”
Just when it seems like there is nothing left to see, open the drawers to the antique dressers and desks and customers will find even more. There is also a quaint backyard housing some larger items such as vintage bicycles, ladders, weathered furniture and watering cans. Ivy climbs up the trees, while a wooden walkway and pond complete the tranquil scene. There is even a small potting shed.
The merchandise at The Cottage is about as original as it comes.
“We buy things from local artists, we do consignment, sometimes we buy old estates… we do flea markets, we do dumpster diving and then paint things,” Rollman said.
Rollman and Logan will frequently salvage old pieces of furniture and then re-design them by painting them and adding their own touch. The cashier counter was once a bar that the two owners spent a day painting and nailing planks, doorknobs, keys and antique licenses plates.
“That counter is going to get us in a magazine one day,” Rollman said.
Perhaps because of the unusual methods Rollman and Logan use to acquire their pieces, the prices are reasonable, and some could even be called a bargain. The cost of most glassware ranges from $3 to $10 and vintage jewelry from $2 to $8. The furniture, which in other antique stores can be quite expensive, is still affordable. A mint green coffee table that Rollman and Logan salvaged has a map of Harrisonburg along with old postcards pasted on the top, and is priced at $100. There are also many items marked as much as 50 percent off.
The Cottage’s clientele ranges from students, to locals, to out of towners, to parents of students.
“We have young people, old people, people who drive by and say ‘I drive by here everyday and it looks so cute and I just had to come in,’” Rollman said.
The store has also played host to groups doing fundraisers. JMU professor Toni Whitfield’s communication class did a group project/fundraiser out in the backyard, according to Rollman. The Cottage has also done shows for local artists.
Rollman and Logan receive new items every week. It’s “never the same store twice.” One of the rooms houses products that have come in and need repair or priced, before they can go on sale in the store. It contains shelves packed with bottles and buttons and baskets. A coat rack stands in the corner. Rollman remarks on it saying, “ I came in one day and it was there.”
The Cottage is open Wed. through Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 197 South Ave.
