Driving, driving and driving to pick up a leaf to a dining table and shelf to a sweet looking china cabinet. From the open land of the Cape’s seashore through the rolling landscape of Eastern Massachusetts through small villages, large cities and the occasional strip mall towns…driving. Then the homes and store fronts become older, much older and quaint. “You have arrived at your destination” pipes the GPS. In front of us looms a 5 story red brown brick building that was once a textile mill. Now it’s a warehouse / work space for artists, furniture restorers and collectors. It is clearly over 100 years old. A large wooden door that looks to be as old as the building itself swings open. An older man wearing a Boston Red sox hat holds the door open with one hand and beckons to us with the other. I do not hesitate. I know that this is going to be a dream comes true.
We introduce ourselves to each other as we move inside. I know immediately that I want to be a part of this space. I feel like I deserve this space, this splendid place. I’m excited. The small talk begins. Small talk is an exercise in making us and the space around each of us real. The gentleman, Harry, and I talked for over an hour about regular “stuff” before we talked about the pieces that we came to pick up. He was more than happy to show us around. The windows are easily 4’ wide with sills large enough to sit on and they are 6’to 7’tall. The ceilings were every bit of 15’ away from the floor.
The Floors were random width pine or oak. I couldn’t tell what type of wood because of the 100 year patina on them. The floors had a nice gentle roll that comes with 100 years of settling. “Are there any spaces available?” I ask. “Yes” Responds Harry. “However, the landlord won’t be back until next week.” Well, next week can’t come fast enough. In the mean time I will imagine what it will be like to set up my business in this handsome old building. In my minds eye I already see the streams of sunlight angling down through the large windows washing everything in warm white light.
Well the week and then some has past. And yes we are now new tenants of the old building. Which I now know was a shoe factory since the civil war and by the way 50% of the union army’s boots were produced there. Once the landlord gets his construction permit approved our walls will go up and the electricity run. We decided on two spaces instead of one. In late November we will be working in a space of nearly1000 square feet. We plan on treating one wall for doing photo layouts another area for furniture restoration and because we are 30 minutes from downtown Boston, another area will act as an appointment only showroom.
We have already met quite a few of the tenants. They are furniture makers, artists and furniture restorers and they all are very friendly and helpful. We are already comfortable here but I knew that we would be the moment I stepped out of our truck. We expect only good things from this space; this special place.
