Saturday, March 1, 2008

Leesburg Station Antiques/ Volant, PA

This shop is located next door to the schoolhouse shop. It is an attractive two story house filled to the brim with a little bit of everything. That isn’t even mentioning the four out buildings.
The out buildings are not heated so come prepared. In the these building you will find a lot of primitive and interesting items. Wagon seats and wheels, an infant coffin, one room schoolhouse desks (NO THEY WEREN’T ONES I USED!), farm tables and chairs…you name it and it may be there.

Step inside to warm up and you will be pleasantly surprise by the amount this single vendor has. Downstairs alone you could find fine china tucked in with a display of barbed wire tines. And in my opinion variety is the spice of life. Save just as much time for the upstairs… going up the stairwell is a slow process because of the nice selection of vintage wall art. Photographs and painted prints alike. I enjoy the large display of area milk bottles, beer bottles, pins and tokens. The selection of interesting restaurant equipment catches my eye also. It would compliment the “retro kitchen” nicely. If you have ever considered a ‘display only’ child’s room, this is your place. Children’s toys and books are plentiful.

This is a well stocked vendor, and for that I give him two stars. If the prices were a little more reasonable I would toss in another star and maybe another half star for pleasing atmosphere. It just makes me think of a smokers den, which is not always a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong a nice inventory, but a bachelors pad. Still worth a visit, let me know what you think. ~Leesa

Schoolhouse Shops at Leesburg/ Volant, PA

The Schoolhouse Shops in Leesburg come highly recommended. The address says Volant, but the little community of Leesburg is close enough to be considered Mercer, and is in the Grove City School District…Which puts it very close to the Prime Outlets! Setting just between Interstate 79 and Interstate 80 this is very accessible. The little brick schoolhouse is the perfect example of the country school. It housed kindergarten through fifth grade. I personally went to this school and have the battle scars to prove it. The kickball field was a killer! With the personal history out of the way lets talk antiques…

Upon entering the buikding, the first room to your left (1st. grade) is an advertising container haven. This vendor has a great collection of original packaging. Milk bottles, soda bottles, ice cream parlor items, tobacco tins, spice containers, cleaning containers, and ‘garage/oil containers’. This vendor also has a nice selection of small occasional tables.

The room across the hall (2nd grade) has a great selection of bigger items. Oak dressers to stand up closets. But if you are looking for a vintage lunchbox or a 'Dick and Jane' book you will find that too. This vendor seems to be expanding a bit, I am noticing a growing collection of tokens. The prices all seem to be right on the mark. This vendor has quality items.

Next door is (4th grade) This vendor seems to specialize in advertising posters. Nicely packaged on cardboard and sealed in plastic. This vendor also has a great selection of books. This room is also filling up, you will find cases of odds and ends. From fine china and vases to salve tins and shaving kits. As all the rooms the prices are accurate and consistent with the quality.

Back to the north side of the hall (3rd grade) is a vendor who seems to dabble in a little of everything. This is said as a compliment. I enjoy looking at the Fiesta Ware and glass but again his furnishings are also very nice. This vender has recently had a welcomed expansion in display cases which are filling daily.

You will not only find each room filled with great items but the hallway is packed with goodies too. The cute little room filled with settees was actually the building office. The only room off limits currently would be what I refer to as kindergarten, because it was just that. It looks like it is currently storage. So lets move along to the last room upstairs (5th grade and the principal’s room)…

This room is filled with lovely oak furnishings, some advertising containers, and very nice trains. Again, this room along with the whole building is really growing. My suggestion is if you really like it, you better jump on it, because things are ‘moving’ in this shop. Moving but always expanding which is great to see.

Lastly, you will want to take a look downstairs. This was our library, and cafeteria. In the winter we had P.E. and recess down here. The small room was the nurse’s office, which double as a band room and tutoring room. The vendors down there are as quality as upstairs. They are all a resent addition and are still growing so I am just going to say please come look around. At this time I can’t accurately describe them other then to say it is worth the stop. But dress appropriately, the boiler room is no more and the Reznor heater can’t keep up! The shop is very chilly in the cold months.

This shop in my opinion is four star, I hope you stop in and enjoy! Don’t forget to look next door. “Leesburg Station” has five buildings ready for your enjoyment. See my next blog entry for more on this. See ya soon ~Leesa