The Welcome Mat is Always Out at Sweetwater Country Home
By Donna Hopkins
Bob and Nancy Hoffmann moved to Virginia from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania and opened Sweetwater Country Home in September 2004. This quaint shop brimming with country furnishings and accessories is located in the heart of historic Gordonsville in Orange County. The path that brought Bob and Nancy to Sweetwater Country Home has been paved by their education, careers, hobbies, and family.
Nancy studied interior design and then following college, she worked at an Ethan Allen furniture store, decorating and designing floor plans. As her family grew, Nancy stayed home to raise her four children. She then returned to work as a secretary for her church, bringing her skills for organization and communication with her every day. Continuing her journey, Nancy bought a Civil War History newspaper. Nancy is an accomplished photographer, interior designer, gardener, writer, historian, mother and wife.
Bob worked in the agricultural field as a manager. He brings the business side to the team, handling the finances. Nancy claims he is a great shopper. “He sees what sells, so he knows what to buy!”
Bob and Nancy are supporters of the Gordonsville Preservation Association and its efforts to restore and renovate the downtown area with restaurants, museums, and shops. The building that now houses Sweetwater Country Home was a post office until 1966, then a Western Auto Store, then a used furniture store, and finally a laundromat with a car wash attached. The Gordonsville Preservation Association refurbished the building, including a new floor and a tin ceiling made on the same machinery as the original ceiling. Sweetwater Country Home is now attractive and inviting. The store is easy to find, a building set apart from others, located just next to the historic Exchange Hotel Civil War Museum and railroad, with plenty of parking.
Imagine your home, decorated with soft, muted country colors, solid wood furniture, original artwork, and unique accents and accessories to delight your senses, all with clean classic lines. Every homeowner dreams of creating an environment that is comfortable, usable, and beautiful. At Sweetwater Country Home your dreams can come true. The store features painted pine furniture pieces from the Windy Hill Line in PA. Customers can choose from coffee tables, end tables, storage chests, farm tables, chairs in several different styles, entertainment centers, hutches, buffets, beds, dressers, benches and cupboards. This furniture is all quality solid wood on the sides and the back and a wax finish. All furniture is available in 14 colors with a choice of 3 different surface finishes. Customers can shop from the store inventory or order custom pieces to fit individual styles and needs. Farm tables come in different shapes (rectangular with legs or round with a pedestal base) and sizes. Each piece of furniture can be customized by mixing and matching different finishes and colors or adding painted artwork such as a star, diamond, Americana flag, or checkerboard design.
For comfort, everyone in the family races for the sofa or dad’s favorite chair. At Sweetwater Country Home you can make certain that every sofa or chair is a favorite. Customers can choose from chairs, rockers, loveseats, and sofas made by Friendship Upholstery of Taylorsville, NC. Customers can relax on the sofa or rest in a cozy, overstuffed chair and try out the comfort first-hand. All of the upholstered pieces are 8-way hand-tied and available in a wide range of colors, textures, and patterns to compliment any style from country to traditional to contemporary. The Hoffmanns are always available to help you select fabrics and furnishings and arrange for delivery.
Sweetwater Country Home is the place to add those special one-of-a-kind pieces that set your home apart. These pieces of furniture speak to your heart with special touches like hand carved knobs. Made from old wood and glass, this furniture looks antique but is newly made and will stand up to everyday family use for years. Each piece has a history all its own and a story to tell, whether it is a cannery cupboard, hutch, jelly cupboard, bucket bench, or a bookcase with a window as a door. These creatively designed and skillfullycrafted one-of-a-kind pieces by Mr. Felts are available in red, blue, mustard, and black.
Sweetwater Country Home will satisfy all your decorating needs. The walls of the store are adorned with watercolors by Laura Lewis Shindle from Upton, PA featuring country scenes, front porches, stone buildings, and chickens. Nancy’s photographs are also available for purchase. She takes photos of landscapes and country vignettes and through the magic of the digital darkroom transforms them into works that look like paintings.
At Sweetwater, artwork is not limited to pictures for the walls. The shop is home to metal creations like a rooster, fish, sunflower, and even a little dachshund dog by Matt Cross from New Church, VA. Jon and Diane Wiegand from Crewe combine their talents to create usable art by recycling old and often discarded items in new and different ways. They supply unusual items like a table made from half of a door, a blackboard on an old cabinet door, and rustic signs. The store also features candles and dried floral arrangements crafted by local women from Gordonsville and throws hand made in nearby Palmyra.
Add classic country touches to your home with lamps, rugs, linens, garlands, berry rings, and decorative accents. There are whimsical items like stuffed and quilted roosters, folk art and primitive items like decorated game boards, and ways to bring the garden inside with watering cans and garden accents. Add a special glimmer to your home with a wrought iron candelabra and rustic candles. Incorporate a little old with the new by using antiques. At Sweetwater, “it’s new unless it’s marked vintage, old, or auction find.” Betty Hopkins from Louisa and Jayne Dittman from Palmyra supply the store with antiques and collectibles like ironstone vases and kitchen enamelware.
Sweetwater Country Home is also the perfect stop to pick up a gift. Shoppers can choose from soy candles, fragrant tea lights and candle warmers, flower frogs, herbal dip mix and a chilled dip holder from Sugar Loaf Pottery, a soap dispenser made from a Mason jar with lid and pump, or a “Family and Friends” sign.
Enter the doorway of this country cottage for a delightful shopping experience. Be sure to tell Bob and Nancy you read about the store in The Country Register.
