Antique Alley

~by Chrissy Alspaugh

Outdoor games, live music, and a new beer garden tempt visitors at Antique Alley to stay a while and check out shops that offer one-of-a-kind wares from working artists, specialty products, model trains, whimsical finds, and much more.

The complex is located in Nashville at the junction of Jefferson and Franklin Streets and along the alleys behind the Brown County Playhouse.

Property owner Andi Rogers Bartels said, ironically, one of the few things shoppers won’t find in Antique Alley are— antiques.

Andi remembers the iconic antique shop at The Ferguson House when she was growing up.

“It was a dark, scary place. If you talk to anybody who went in there, they’ll tell you there were real skeletons inside. It was something!”

Continuing her family’s legacy of bolstering business in Nashville is something, too.

Her father, prominent Nashville businessman Andy Rogers, who passed away in 2018 at age 87, owned the complex before her.

Rogers’ business holdings at various times included the Nashville House, the Brown County Inn, The Seasons Lodge and Conference Center, The Ordinary restaurant, and about two dozen retail shops he rented to others. He managed the Abe Martin Lodge and helped build banks in Nashville. When he died, the Brown County Democrat called him “the man who built the business framework for Brown County.”

His father, Andrew Jackson “Jack” Rogers, helped establish the Nashville House hotel and restaurant in 1927.

The fabric of Andi’s childhood was the inner workings of Nashville business—tagging along with her dad checking his hotels and restaurants before school, learning to count change and bus tables at the Nashville House, securing her first job at age 14 at Abe Martin Lodge.

“It was our way of life, every single day. It was just part of this long history of my family giving to this community and creating jobs,” she said.

The day of her father’s estate auction was “extremely hard,” Andi said.

“I was sobbing most of the auction, watching everything I’d known my whole life being auctioned off,” she said. Her husband, Lance Bartels, conducted their bidding that day, keeping the Antique Alley properties and her childhood home with the surrounding acreage in the family.

Then an even bigger challenge began.

Much of the maintenance of the properties had been deferred the last years of her dad’s life. Air conditioners needed replaced, wiring needed repaired, one cabin was literally sinking into the ground, and pretty much everything needed a facelift.

The couple attacked the to-do list as fast as finances would allow, completing most of the repairs themselves. Their children, Nolan and Ella, and other family members helped check off projects during the COVID shutdown.

Andi said she and her husband, who is a pilot, travel frequently and came into the renovations with all kinds of ideas about the touches that make a space feel inviting: vibrant colors, landscaping, outdoor games, seating, music, food and drinks, and even water bowls for four-legged friends.

“It feels like an environment that we would seek out, but it also still feels like home,” said Andi.

Chainsaw artist Chris Trotter, who owns Wooden Wonders, appreciates all that the couple has poured into the complex that he’s called home for 16 years.

Trotter said he felt incredibly supported as an artist by Andy Rogers, and his daughter has been “the perfect new owner.”

“Andi definitely has Nashville in her blood and wants to keep the arts thriving. If they hadn’t taken over the alley, we could’ve ended up being turned into a putt-putt course or really anything,” Trotter said.

The Ferguson House when it was the iconic antique shop. Scenes from today’s Antique Alley complex.

Michele Hayes, owner of The Clay Purl, said she has enjoyed watching the couple revive the complex, particularly The Ferguson House outside her shop door.

“It’s been so fun to watch these buildings come to life,” Hayes said.

Today, families stroll through the alley’s bouquet of delightfully unique shops. Artisans can be found painting, weaving, throwing pottery, and carving outside their shops, while live music spills out of The Ferguson House’s new beer garden.

“I still frequently get asked where the antique shops are,” said David Hoggatt, owner of the alley’s Brown County Model Trains. “There aren’t antiques here, but folks really enjoy what they do find.”

Ohio residents John and Julie Frye recently rested with their dogs Jeep and Rubicon in the beer garden during their first visit to Nashville, a pit stop on their drive home from California.

“We’ve walked and walked today—I think we’ve seen every alley and back road in this town,” John laughed. “This is such a great little place. We’ll definitely be back.”

Until then, Andi and her family will keep renovating and building upon their vision of keeping Nashville moving forward for businesses and for visitors.

“I just love our community, and I love our town,” she said. “All I can do is keep carrying on the history of Nashville and the history of my dad.” 

ANTIQUE ALLEY SHOPS:
The Brilliance Gallery
Brown County Model Trains
Brown County Pottery
Brown County Weavery
The Clay Purl
Country Magic
Denny’s Magic and Fun Emporium
The Ferguson House
Bistro & Bar, Beer Garden, & Suites 
For Bare Feet
The Lazy Possum
Lolli’s House
Lumi Boutique
My Sisters Shoppe
Old McDurbin Gold & Gifts
The Paint Box
Plum Natural
Wooden Wonders