The Farm Antiques

06/14/2020

Thanks to all of you who have "liked" The Farm. I hope you all know that if you go to www.thefarmantiques.com you will find a really nifty website that lets you look at items by category--dining tables, small tables, sideboards, boxes, brass, etc.--that we presently have in stock. At the moment I've posted about 650 items (out of 2200 that are in stock) with complete descriptions, prices and several photos of each item. Thank you all for supporting us, particularly during these past few months which have been difficult in the extreme. We have been so grateful to all of you who have purchased from us and have kept us afloat in trying times. You are wonderful and we appreciate you greatly.
We are now open by appointment, as per the regulations from our governor, we require masks and social distancing. We all look forward to a time when this is not necessary, but for the time being, it is, so we respectfully ask you to obey the rules as set out by our Maine CDC and the governor.
We hope that you all are staying healthy and finding a way to stay sane in these troubling times. Find a little joy in every day!

05/09/2020

I'm sure as you all know I rarely post on Facebook or any where else for that matter, but I want to thank all of you for your support and interest in The Farm Antiques over the past many years and especially over the past weeks. So many of you have gone to our website www.thefarmantiques.com and have purchased wonderful things that have brought joy to you and have enabled us to keep going, keep our employees employed and our cats fed. Thank you so very much.

These challenging times bring us all together in uplifting ways. Here in Maine (where the pandemic has made us number one in bad economic effects per capita in the USA) we are particularly grateful for our community of antique lovers that spreads all over the country. We have heard from so many of you that we are in your thoughts and prayers and likewise you are in ours. Together we shall make it through these tough times and hopefully come out wiser and more resilient.

Every day when I look across our gardens and over our fields and see the joy of the natural world that surrounds us, I am grateful for all that we have and where we live. In the evening as we watch movies by the fireside (yes, we are having a snowstorm right now) with our two cats curled up cozily soaking up the rays, I enjoy just being in our home, I know we are lucky beyond belief. We have a home, we have good friends, we have a wonderful extended family so we thank you all and hope that you all stay well and find some joy and laughter in this upended life.

With gratitude and hope for better days ahead,
Hannah & Dave Crouthamel

05/17/2018

I have been remiss in posting anything on Facebook. But I have an excuse. We've been developing a new website for The Farm Antiques and it should be going live within a couple of days, maybe even later today. There are no easy jobs!! Website construction is a total nightmare, but finally I think we have all of the bugs worked out and none too soon. Our web designer, Prisca Poirier, of Port Web Designs, has labored long and hard, as have we all, but I think it has really been worth it.

That is not my only excuse, March and April were totally occupied with getting ready for our spring opening gala. Everything turned out wonderfully well so the massive preparations were worth all of the work. Thank you to our dear friends and family who helped with the final days of cooking and preparation for opening day. My brother Sam came up from Florida, Dave's sister Nancy came from Pittsburgh, friends from Rhode Island and Montville, Maine were also on hand to make finger sandwiches, cut, dice, mix for all of the various salads, frost the cakes, arrange the tables and do the last minute things that are necessary to make The Farm opening a success. We have such a fun day of talking and cooking and catching up after a long winter. You would think we were in the food business instead of the antique business, but preparing buffet breakfast and lunch for 200 is no small job for someone not in the catering business.

And then of course, all of our friends change hats on Friday morning and switch to helping our clients find the perfect items for their home. They have been doing this for so many years, that they have great insight into what particular folks might want or need for their homes.

What a great spring opening gala it was! We had over 200 people attend the weekend's festivities and it was such fun. It is always my favorite weekend as we get to see so many of our favorite friends and clients. This year, as in past years, they were gung ho to select special things for their homes and collections, so with 19 in help we managed to get everyone's purchases cataloged, wrapped and packed into their vehicles, or made ready for shipping. After each day of the weekend we rearranged the shop to rebalance it after so many key rarities were snapped up and taken away. Thank you one and all for making our special opening weekend such a success.

We shall soon be off to England on a other buying trip so our summer stock will be up to s***f. Of course Gerry and Sam Clarrage will be here to take care of the shop and the real estate and the kitties. We are so lucky to have such a great team here at The Farm Antiques. Gerry has been working for us since he was 13 (he's now in his late 40's) and Sam has been here for almost 20 years. They are the best and we are grateful to them for their years of service and devotion.

So, if any of you are planning on visiting Maine this summer, check out our website www.thefarmantiques.com and refer to the Contact Us page for hours and directions. The new website will have a similar format to the old one, but it is updated and even more secure. We look forward to seeing you all. Enjoy your spring and come to Maine this summer!

05/07/2017

Thank you one and all for helping us celebrate our 50th anniversary of The Farm last weekend. What a wonderful weekend that was!! Over 200 long time friends and clients came to share our jubilation on Friday and to see what wonderful antiques we had added to the shop over the winter. You did us proud; you purchased over 275 antiques including 47 pieces of furniture and kept all 19 of us busy all day long.

And didn't we have a grand group of helpers? All friends who love antiques and who pitched in to help us on this crazy wonderful day. My brother Sam came up from Ft. Lauderdale, Nancy (Dave's sister) flew in from Pittsburgh, David Chandler drove up from Rhode Island and Charles and Kate Omell sped down from Montvale, Maine. Those friends not only helped on Friday to advise and inform, but all day on Thursday they helped prepare the food for our buffet breakfast and lunch that we have available for all who attend. It is hard to believe, but we all have a jolly time, cooking shrimp, preparing lobster, cutting up fruits and vegetables for the variety of salads that we create, making finger sandwiches, frosting cakes and taking care of the myriad chores that can only be done the last minute. I had been baking every night in April, and freezing strudel, cakes and breakfast breads, so all of those had to be defrosted and prepared. I do not have a large kitchen, so a lot of the assembly takes place on our glassed in porch around my grandmother's huge round dining table. It is a jolly time and discussions range from politics to antiques to gardening and everything in between.

On Friday, we all put on our good clothes, and had another beyond busy day, this one of selling antiques. Our friends Steve and Harriet Passerman, Bill Davisson, Katell Wildenberg, Betsy Cheney, William Cheney, Leanna McCausland, Pat Goff, Janet Clarrage, and Sue Chambers all volunteer to help us out of friendship and love. Of course our wonderful employees Gerry and Sam Clarrage never stop moving all day long. We are so blessed to have such great friends who incidentally are well versed in antiques. Kate and Charles Omell are particularly sought after for advice on paintings, as their expertise and knowledge is nothing short of monumental. Each of our friends has an area of expertise which is drawn upon when particular questions need answers.

So thank you one and all for making the celebration of 50 years in business a memorable one. So many of you I've known for decades and a few I've known since I started at age 18, right here at The Farm with my parents, Tom and Jeannette Hackett. We have a few third generation collectors that are a joy to behold; we love their enthusiasm and their desire to create a home full of interesting and beautiful antiques. Many meld them in with modern items, and the timelessness of antiques adds to the depth of their home. Their personalities and knowledge shine forth in the objects they choose; just walking into their homes, one is very aware that they are fascinating young people with wide ranging knowledge and always a quest to learn more about their heritage and history. What a fun business we have. As I have often said, it is not only the antiques which keep us interested in our business, it is the wonderful people that we have the privilege to get to know. We are grateful to you all and look forward to the hopefully many years ahead at The Farm. Thank you for your friendship, loyalty, interest and patronage; we are truly blessed.

09/15/2012

I've been blogging away all summer; just finished my 9th blog. This was a two parter on tea--it's development as the drink of the upper crust in the 17th and early 18th c. eventually morphing into a cultural imperative for all Brits. Second blog about tea explores the wonderful designs of tea caddies and how they mirror each era. www.thefarmantiques.com/blog

06/26/2012

I'm starting a mini course about antiques on The Farm Antiques website blog. So far have done two blogs and hope to do one every week or l0 days. It's actually been kind of fun.

05/23/2012