Purveyor of the Practical and the Timeless - Remodelista
Photographs by Megan Wilson. We have a long history with Ancient Industries, one of our favorite online haunts for housewares. It’s located above the post office in the idyllic old Connecticut village of West Cornwall, where Megan and her husband, painter Duncan Hannah, have a country place (featured in the Remodelista book).
The shop’s enamelware sign was custom-made by Riess of Austria (upstairs, Riess’s enamelware pots are on display). The light is the Original Warehouse Gooseneck Light from Barn Light Electric.
Ancient Industries’ wares range from Tea Cosies hand knit in Devon, $45, to classic Stoke-on-Trent creamware Hunslet Jugs, $45, and Mochaware Mugs, $32.
Trestle tables (sourced from Ikea and customized) are used for display. Sheila Maid hanging laundry dryers, $135–one of Ancient Industries’ bestsellers–are draped with Cote Bastide French Linen Tea Towels, $28, and Turkish hammam towels (not yet available online).
Shaker pegs, custom-made for the shop by Megan’s cabinetmaker neighbor, Ian Ingersoll, wrap around the walls of one of the shop’s three rooms.
From Sweden, Iris Handwerk Black and White Dustpan Brushes, $32, are paired with German-made Child-Size Dustpans and Brushes, $22 (which work well for sweeping crumbs off tables).
Megan swears by Ian Mankin striped cotton yardage and tablecloths for curtains, pillows, and chair upholstery.
Avarcas sandals, $35 (kid’s sizes, $25) hail from the Spanish island of Menorca, where Megan spent childhood summers.
The black Sewing Kit by Merchant & Mills comes packaged in a canvas tailor’s roll; $65.
Made of galvanized steel, the two-gallon Haws Watering Can, $100, is “all about balance and ease of pouring,” notes Megan.
Balls of Nutscene Twine from Scotland, $8, are lined up on beachwood Twine Stands, $30 (with “thistle-shaped tops that conceal a cutter, so no trudging about the garden looking for scissors”).
Made in Morocco, Esparto Grass Baskets, $60, are sized for carrying laundry and firewood.
In the stairwell, farmer’s market purchases are stowed on newly built shelves that make use of scrap wood and the old building’s exposed vertical beams.
The packing room/office has a Canvas Hamper from Steele Canvas (another design spotlighted in the Remodelista 100, and a nod to the working post office downstairs).
Megan’s pinboard and desk accessories; note the candlestick phone. Watch for her Object Lessons posts every Tuesday, and read UK horticultural reports by her twin sister, Kendra, on Gardenista. Read more
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