Old Screen Door open to the unusual, unknown
Those who enter The Old Screen Door in Lewes should be prepared to spend time looking around. Hundreds of items lie before a browser’s eyes; but others are hidden in plain view, found only by the curious and adventurous.
“This is kind of a hidden jewel,” shop owner Tony Romano said about The Old Screen Door on Monroe Avenue extended in Lewes. He opened the shop last year with a partner who has since left the business. Romano describes the shop’s wares as a mixture of vintage, retro and some antiques. There’s also a selection of items produced by local artists and crafts people.
“There’s lots of cool stuff for guys here,” Romano said, dispelling any idea the shop has things only appealing to women.
Inside and outside are numerous architectural pieces including several sets of old, wood-framed windows and wooden shutters.
“Contractors take them out of buildings and replace them with vinyl windows and shutters, but they can’t bring themselves to throw the wooden ones away and I buy them,” he said.
Romano said he enjoys finding things for the shop.
“I meet a lot of interesting people just going out and looking for stuff,” he said. Romano said he likes to put distressed finishes on old furniture he finds, then sell the pieces.
“That’s solid mahogany. I painted it white because that’s want people like in their beach houses,” he said pointing to dresser adding he’ll paint furniture any color a customer requests.
Among other items in the shop: A vintage Lionel model train set; several types of scales; a working Victor Victrola; a vintage transistor radio; a corn husker; a sausage press; original posters describing how now-outdated aviation equipment worked; and a homemade device used for a purpose no one has been able to determine.
“A friend took it to a farm museum and people there looked at it. They said they don’t know what it is,” Romano said about the narrow box-like object containing a single wheel spiked with short nails.
The wheel, turned by a hand-crank, is positioned above a narrow pull-drawer.
A new section
Romano recently expanded the shop, making a doorway into an adjacent area previously used by a woodworker.
“I had the idea to bring different vendors and artists in. All the spaces were gone in three weeks,” he said.
The expansion contains fish and waterfowl carvings by the Belote brothers of Lewes. “It’s really high-end carving,” Romano said. The brothers are recipients of Ward World Champion awards in competitions sponsored by the Ward Museum in Salisbury.
The room also contains artwork by Felicia Belair-Rigdon of Lewes creates pieces with surrealistic qualities combining painting, collage, calligraphy and off-cuts from custom picture framing.
In another area, work by Lewes resident Mary Costa is displayed. Costa uses richly colored, exotic hardwoods to make cutting boards, candleholders, sushi settings, trivets, bowls, flower vessels and other items.
Diane Lane of Lewes has stocked the shop with several pieces of Polish Pottery. Women in Poland hand-paint each collectable item and selected artists sign some pieces.
The Old Screen Door is open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is closed on Tuesday. Visit the shop at 309 Monroe Avenue extended, adjacent to Freeman Highway. For additional information, call 302-827-2149.
