Brimfield Dealer Profile: Walker Homestead

One of my favorite parts of developing the Brimfield Flea Finder app, has been meeting so many talented passionate people who love what they do. This series of Brimfield Dealer Profiles will highlight a small sample of dealers that can be found using the app. For the July show I will focus on a handful of dealers who have participated and supported the app from the beginning. I'm thrilled to help shine a little more light on these businesses that they work so hard building and running every day.

Walker Homestead

Country antiques and primitives. Use the Brimfield Flea Finder app to find their booth at the show or their contact info between shows.

If you are coming to Brimfield, it helps to know that Walker Homestead is part of a group of dealers that refer to themselves as Brimfield Country Roads. They have signs to help guide you to their section on the Central Park field. Multi-dealer partnerships are sprinkled throughout the fields and I think it's a great way to do the show if you can find the right mix of dealers. Brimfield Country Roads is a great example of this strategy being executed well. The exact number of dealers varies from show to show, but there are roughly 18 at the July 2015 show. They all focus on true country antiques from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Walker Homestead shares a large tent with a handful of the Brimfield Country Road dealers and their booth is truly beautiful. These days so much of the show is made up of industrial, midcentury modern, repainted furniture and vintage items that are barely as old as I am. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all that stuff. But there is just something special about the primitive antiques that Walker Homestead and the other Brimfield Country Road dealers' wares. I imagine that these are the kinds of antiques that were being sold at this show back in the 60s when it all started. 

The booth is beautifully styled. It's clear that these dealers love finding special pieces and sharing them with their customers. Each vignette looks like it could be from someone's home and each piece is full of character. Everything has the kind of patina that manufacturers of reproductions try to mimic but which actually came from being used for a century or so.

One of the things I was hoping to accomplish with these posts, was to let people know how to find some of our dealers the 49 weeks of the year that Brimfield is not taking place. For many it's simply a website or a store location. Walker Homestead is more than that. Paul and Kris Casucci are the owners of Walker Homestead, which is not just a business but their home. A beautiful 1698 colonial saltbox, it is the oldest standing house in Brookfield, MA which is just 15 minutes from Brimfield. It lives up to the "homestead" name. It serves as their home, an antique shop, the location of two antiques and primitive goods shows every year (June and September) and a wedding venue. They also have extensive flower and vegetable gardens, livestock, a woodworking shop and they hold two open houses and various workshops throughout the year. Thankfully they have a calendar of events on their website to make it easy to keep up with them!

Walker Homestead - Brookfield, MA

I don't think there is a dealer in Brimfield who wouldn't say the show is an important part of their overall business. Kris says taking part in the show is a no brainer for them. It's convenient only being 15 minutes from their home and they see more customers in Brimfield than they would if they left the shop open. They are also able to promote their other shows and network with other dealers. That is more important than ever now because Kris and her partner, Christina Hummel (Primitive America Antiques of Pennsdale, PA), recently purchased the Simple Goods Early Country Antiques & Primitives Show in Mansfield, Ohio. 

To Walker Homestead, and most dealers in Brimfield, the show is serious business. But it's also a lot of fun. Kris enjoys shopping and says "you never know when that special item will present itself. You can't take a chance on missing it!" She also enjoys the dealers she sets up with in the Brimfield Country Roads tent and one of the benefits of being part of a multi-dealer tent, is having the opportunity to step away from time to time and shop. 

Walker Homestead's shared booth in the Brimfield Country Roads section of Central Park consists of Paul and Kris Casucci, as well as Brett Cabral, Marlo Paju, Ian McKelvey, Mary Elliott, Carol Wojtkun, Brian Bartizek and a few others.  It varies from show to show but this group of dealers have been setting up together since 2012. They now have some brand recognition with customers who come back to find them show after show. 

Favorite Brimfield memory:  "Trudging through the fields in the hot sun, 8 1/2 months pregnant with my now 30 year old daughter. The thrill of the hunt carries you on!"

Favorite Brimfield food: "It used to be the gyro or lamb shawarma, but they're gone, then it was the empanadas but I didn't see them in May!  I love the mocha frappe in the coffee booth at the front of our field!"

Best tip for shoppers: "Look at everything!  Bring plenty of water, wear good walking shoes, take breaks and have FUN!"

To shop Walker Homestead between Brimfield shows, visit them at www.walkerhomestead.com and be sure to check their calendar of events for shop times, workshops and their other shows.

For more information about the Simple Goods Early Country Antiques & Primitives Show visit their Facebook page.