Another tourist business bites the dust: Sperryville Antique Market closes, is up for sale
By James P. Gannon
Sperryville is losing one of its long-time tourist attractions, The Sperryville Antique Market, which has shut its doors and is up for sale.
The huge, 30,000 square foot timber frame building, which for a quarter-century housed a once-thriving antique business, is up for sale at an asking price of $1.3 million. Realtor Terry Dixon of Castle Real Estate in Castleton, VA, is handling the property, which includes 1.2 acres.
Dixon said owner Paul Stevenson has put the property up for sale, along with a separate, adjacent parcel of 1.6 acres which includes a two-story frame farmhouse, priced at $350,000. The properties lie near the Thornton River just off Route 211 along Water Street.
Stevenson did not return calls for comment. A sign on the front door of the Sperryville Antique Market said it was open “by appointment only,” and calls to the phone number posted there were not returned. According to several sources, persons who had consigned antiques for sale at the market have been told to remove their merchandise, and persons renting storage space also have been asked to move their goods.
For years, the Sperryville Antique Market and the nearby Sperryville Emporium (and its successor, Faith Mountain Company) served as mainstays of the village’s tourist businesses, often attracting large crowds on weekends. Arthur and Peggy Smith of Sperryville owned and operated the antique market for many years before selling it to Paul and Kristal Stevenson in February, 2005.
The Stevensons kept the antique business going and added new furniture sales as well, but became convinced that the business was not viable on a long-term basis, because Sperryville’s tourist traffic had declined and the costs of operating the huge building were high. They began considering alternative uses of the building.
In May 2007, Stevenson unveiled a plan to convert the structure to condominium units, proposing to create 24 condo apartments to be marketed primarily to senior citizens. But that plan ran into significant opposition from some neighbors and others and received a chilly reception from the county’s Planning Commission.
At a contentious Planning Commission hearing in August last year, Stevenson abruptly withdrew his application for a permit to convert the building to condo apartments when it became clear that the commissioners were about to recommend against approval of the project. At that time, Stevenson said he would pursue other uses of the building that are allowed under its General Commercial zoning, such as dividing the structure into office suites or retail shops, or even an apartment motel. Those plans never materialized, however.
Built in the 1940s, the big structure originally was built and used as an apple storage and shipping facility, and later housed the Rappahannock Farm Co-op, before becoming the antique market.
The closing of the Sperryville Antique Market is benefiting The Copper Fox Antiques, which is located just behind it, said Lois Kerchner, who manages The Copper Fox. Some of the dealers who have left the Sperryville Antique Market have moved into The Copper Fox. “We are having the best year we have ever had,” said Kerchner. “The antiques business in Sperryville is definitely not dead.” She said business at The Copper Fox was good enough to justify being open seven days a week this fall.
-- James P. GannonComments
Comment from ChaseSkye
Time: October 9, 2008, 12:04 pm
Perhaps the Copper Fox will do an even better business sans the very overpriced Antique Mall? Personally I found everything very expensive there including the “new” furniture. I find it somewhat ironic that the Copper Fox is having its “best year ever”, at the same time the mall failed. One can only hope that whatever the large building is used for in the future will not detract either from the scenic Village of Sperryville or the Copper Fox.
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