Helen Storey Antiques offers delightfully beautiful period antiques that add style, sophistication and whimsy to any decor.
We are a direct importer of French, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, and Portuguese and antiques as well as knowledgeable dealers of fine American and English pieces. Our American focus is on 18th and 19th century Southern and elegant country. Our International focus is on 17th-19th century International pieces chosen for their beauty, authenticity, and aesthetic.
Known for mixing different cultural styles and eras of furniture and accompanying decorative pieces together, Helen Storey Antiques offers a boutique selection of antiques that range from rare objets d’art to French flea market finds and textiles, to fine art and unique, important period furniture. Our pricing is fair and our experience, academic approach to the trade, and knowledge of the field stand behind everything we offer.
An eye for quality and beauty, an impressive academic background, and over twenty years in antiques sales.
Born in Virginia and raised in the UK, Helen Storey began to collect antiques when she was twelve at village antique markets and London fairs. In England she studied art, graphic design and literature before moving to the US to earn an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. She went on to postgraduate studies in literature, art history, and French.
In 1997, while working as an assistant professor at a Virginia university, Helen began appraisal studies and entered the antiques trade in Charlottesville. She became a certified appraiser and worked part-time in sales for House of Jacobus.
In 2003 she decided to leave academics to open the first Helen Storey Antiques. The shop was opened with a partner and national expert in Southern antiques, Stephen Ramsey, and with the help of a number of local experts, it took off quickly. The store specialized in American and English antiques, and developed an impressive client list (always kept confidential) that included famed business leaders, writers, actors, artists, and other major collectors.
Helen Storey has worked with many of the top interior designers in the country, who came to rely on her expertise, good eye, and attention to detail and strong service ethic. Her appraisal work has taken her to the homes of extraordinary collectors. Her education is continuous, including countless hours of study at Winterthur and appraiser organizations.
She closed the first shop in 2010 in order to move back to England, where she studied interior design in London, learned ceramic restoration and gilding, and completed a PhD in creative writing. Whenever possible she spent time in either Paris or the south of France, where she developed a unique network of antiques resources and began working with French auction houses, antiques markets, and dealers. Her antique dealing focused more on smalls and objects at this time, and was augmented by her regular participation as a dealer at the Royal Horticultural Hall Antiques Fair at Lindley Hall in London.
During 2016-17, Helen lived in Nice, France, where she learned a great deal about sourcing antiques in Provence, the Cote d’Azur and Italy, and worked again with Paris sources and auction houses throughout France and in Monaco.
Today, Helen is based in Charlottesville with a very current understanding of where to find gorgeous, authentic antiques, not only in the U.S. but throughout Europe, where she travels often to collect rare pieces for her customers.
Helen's approach is to make antique buying fun, playful, and adaptable to contemporary lifestyles. Working with a wide range of customers, locally and online, she is prepared and delighted to serve designers, collectors, young buyers as well as the more experienced, members of the antiques trade, and all for whom beauty is an essential part of life.
We sell the exotic and the refined, the quirky and the sublime, with an underlying taste reflective of European provincial style.
It’s our goal to welcome our customers into a friendly, fun environment and offer you pieces that will delight your heart and home.
Our pieces are investment quality and can always be resold or traded, thanks to their inherent value.
We are also able to provide appraisals in many situations.
We are pleased to provide free home consultations, to help you envision and develop your decorating goals, and acquire antiques to suit your personal tastes and desires.
We have extensive experience assisting serious collectors with research to locate rare pieces. With this expertise, we are prepared to help any customer seeking hard-to-find rarities.
