Business & Tech
Fun Finds: Coastal and Artisan Objects at Beach House
A Middletown shop offers home-décor objects and gifts with a focus on coastal style and artisan-made goods.
Located in a Victorian-style house with an inviting front porch, the Beach House, at 42 West Main Road, Middletown, feels more like a seaside cottage than a retail establishment along a busy thoroughfare.
Indeed, from the wooden-oar Christmas tree currently on the front porch, to the handmade star and sailboat glass ornaments throughout the shop, the objects are very much about a coastal style of living. The guiding force behind the choice of objects: Sally Dwyer, the shop’s owner and buyer.
“I don’t have anything in the shop that I wouldn’t like having in my own house,” says Dwyer, who looks for U.S. made, artisan objects with an ocean motif. “People respond to the beach theme—everyone wants a beach room or would love a beach cottage, and here we are in the Ocean State.”
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In business for 15 years in Middletown—the last six at the current location—Dwyer considers herself fortunate that her shop’s reputation has brought artisans to her, rather than her needing to go out searching for those special wares. “Lots of artisans have found me, and now 40% of what I carry is handmade by Rhode Island or New England artisans,” says Dwyer.
She points out a small Christmas tree made of mussel shells that a Rhode Island artisan creates using shells found in Maine. Or there’s the blue-glass-star ornament that is hand made by a Tiverton artisan.
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Prices cover a wide range so that a person can find those “under-$10 gifts for teachers or neighbors” as well as a more significant gift. For example, there’s a $10 pine-cone-shaped candle, or a $6 bag of sea salts. There’s also the 8-foot-tall tree made entirely of painted wooden oars, priced at $3,500.
“We offer lots of personal service and guidance when someone is shopping, and we gift wrap items, and ship anywhere,” says Dwyer. “We have shipped seashells to Florida!”
Beach House, 42 West Main Road, Middletown, is open Monday-Friday, 9:30-6, and Sunday, noon-5. From now until Christmas, the shop will be open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Check Beach House for more information, or call 401-619-1917.
