Billie Haines Designer, Actor

Lamps by Billy Haines

William (Billie) Haines born January 2, 2012-December 26, 1973 was an actor in the early movies to the 1930's and later became an interior designer.

  He was born in Staunton VA. and ran away at age 14 with a boy friend to Hopewell VA an area at that time was known for it's immorality. ( This little bit of information amazed us as Hopewell is a small town that we pass through going other places, but it was a boom town over night in 1914 due to the establishment of the largest guncotton mill in the world at that time.)

Sconces by Billy Haines

He left his acting career, because he refused to deny that he was Gay. So much better for the world of design.  He and his life time pardner Jimmy Shields embarked on their new dual careers of both antique dealers and designers. They designed for all of Hollywood's Royalty. They were modern before modernism, and decorative at the same time.  They epitomized the old Hollywood Glamor. They have come back into style with Hollywood Regency, although Hollywood Regency never obtained the purity and classic style of their designs.  His designs are still produced today.

Garden Week and Photo Ops for the" Local Scoop"

For Information of 2012 Tour

Every now and then, we do something to rock the Northern Neck of Va.  Next week is the Garden Club of VA House tour.  All the ladies from the early married to those in their seventies and eights go all out visiting all the sites on tour throughout the state.  These ladies come in like a gaggle of geese. Dressed in their Sunday Best.  So we dress our windows for shock and awe.

We look more like a store in Manhattan rather than a traditional antique shop in Virginia.  It is always interesting to see the reaction that these ladies have to our shop.  Some will walk right by the show windows ignoring all the tantalizing pieces we have on display.  Others will come in and not be able to understand the design quality of the shop, and yet there will be those who will revel in the quality and uniqueness of our items.  We live for these people.  they make all our hard work worth while.

Recently we have done a complete overhaul of the interior of the shop.  Last week, Lewis had a photographer come in to do a photo op for an article the "Local Scoop" is doing on young  entrepreneurs.   We hustled trying to make the whole shop look really good.  So wouldn't you know, they only shot one area, and it was not one where we had staged.  Lewis was told what colors to wear and they took great pains to poise him. He did as he was told but I could imagine him groaning mentally.  The article will come out in their June issue.

So Why The Northern Neck ?

Our shop is located on the Northern Neck of Virginia, in the Town of Kilmarnock.  This is a popular area for people to have second homes and to retire.  My family originally from the Norfolk Va. area, have been visiting this area for generations.  The Tides Inn in Irvington Va. has been a vacation destination for many, many years.  My grandparents stayed there in the 1950's.  The Northern Neck is an area almost completely surrounded by water.  The Chesapeake Bay lies to the east and the Rappahanock River to the west.  In between are lots of smaller rivers and creeks that cut in land allowing for a tremendous amount of water front.  The seafood particularly the blue crabs, oysters, and fish are plentiful and fresh.  Every home on the water has crab pots out. These crabs are free for the taking.  People come for bird watching. They come for kayaking.  They come by car and they arrive by boat.

Families from both Richmond.,Williamsburg and Northern Va. come for their weekends.  It is said that as soon as they cross over the bridge to the Northern Neck that the pressure of the daily grind is lifted from their shoulders, and they breath a sigh of relief. 

So why do you ask do we have our shop in a small town on the Northern Neck of Va.?  Why not.  We first came as visitors ourselves as part time people.  Some how the Northern Neck got into our blood.  The style of living is a slower pace.  The rent on Main Street is highly affordable allowing us a much larger space than we could get anywhere else.  The customers come to us.  The internet and the website 1stdibs allows us to sell across the globe.  This is the benefit of the internet.