Mark R. Charry - Owner

I was born in Philadelphia in an architecturally significant Frank Furness designed hospital and I always joke that it has destined me to become an architectural antiques collector and dealer. I started out buying and selling antiques when I was studying Business Administration at Temple University in the 1970's. There was significant urban development around the Temple campus and buildings were being renovated and in a fair number of cases demolished. What first caught my eye were the beautiful stained glass windows that were available at demolition prices. I was successful in selling them by going directly to dealers, advertising them in the paper, and selling them at flea markets. This led me to salvaging and selling Victorian mantels, built in wardrobe facades, tiles, and hardware. As my inventory grew I would rent storage units and display my better items at antique shows. As I networked with experienced antique dealers I learned what were desirable items and what items to avoid.

      When it came time to graduate from Temple I realized I already had a profitable business! As I devoted myself to it full time I was able to save enough to purchase my first antique store and move my business from a primarily wholesale to primarily retail enterprise. Then after making a preliminary scouting trip to Paris, I started purchasing and shipping container loads of amazing inventory from France, Belgium, and the UK!

      As the business grew I branched out to renting and selling to movies, TV shows, music videos, plays, commercials, weddings, special events, and convention shows, thus adding to my established clientele of restaurants, bars, speakeasies, wineries, micro-brewers, car collectors, bakeries, and retail stores such as Brooks Brothers, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie.