The Lucketts Store is an antique and home goods store in Lucketts, Virginia, United States. It was run by the eponymous Luckett family in the early twentieth century as the local general store and post office until its closure in 1960 and eventual abandonment. It was renovated in 1996 and reopened as an antique store, originally called The Old Lucketts Store and Lucketts Store Antiques. A vintage-themed fair is hosted every October and May on the Clarke County Fairgrounds in Berryville, Virginia under the Lucketts name, and a show house is opened every November on the store property. Other vintage stores were later established in the area.

History

Thomas Hussey Luckett moved from Montgomery County, Maryland to Loudoun County, Virginia in 1786. He lived in a manor at the southwest corner of the crossroads now known as Lucketts, which was still in the Luckett family in the nineteenth century. Sam Luckett's Store was operated in the mid- to late-nineteenth century at the crossroads by local merchant Samuel Clapham Luckett, county sheriff from and an original director of The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Loudoun County. The crossroads was named after the family in 1870 as Luckett's Cross Roads. Sam's proposal for a post office was approved by President Harrison in the late 1880s, and the crossroads was named Luckets, with one letter t. The post office was established at Sam Luckett's Store in 1890.

In 1890, Sam's daughter Sarah J. "Sally" Luckett and her husband William H. Luckett moved from Waterford to the crossroads and constructed their home and store at its northeast corner. Their son Roger William Luckett built the current store and residence at the corner , moving and incorporating Sam Luckett's Store into the complex. He succeeded to his father's business upon his death in 1911, and the crossroads was officially renamed Lucketts in 1912 when he became postmaster. He and his wife Mae Arnold Luckett ran the community general store and post office out of their home and store, which became known as Luckett's Store and Post Office.

Lucketts fell into a decline in the early 1910s due to the advent of electricity in Leesburg and resulting outmigration. Mae was appointed knitting chairman in her locality during World War II for the Red Cross War Relief, with meetings taking place at her home above the post office. The general store closed in 1944 when Roger fell ill. Mae, who had been his assistant since 1912, took over as postmistress after he died, selling the store's equipment at public auction. In 1954, she noted for the Blue Ridge Herald that it was "getting to be a retired town." She closed the post office in 1960 with a line-up to receive the final postmarks and was the last Luckett to live in Loudoun, her daughter residing in Florida.

Later use

The building was owned by W.W. Fetzer in 1973 and saw use as a beauty parlor. At some point it also served as a real estate office. Eventually the county determined it to be too neglected for use and required its owners to vacate the building. It is within the Catoctin Rural Historic District, which was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register on December 13, 1988 and nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The building was cited in the nomination as the best preserved example of early 20th century commercial structures in the district. The nomination was approved by the Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks, but on March 20, 1989 the district was federally determined to be ineligible for the National Register. By 1996 the building was dilapidated to the extent that the local fire department had been instructed to "let it burn to the ground and save everything around if it ever caught fire," with missing boards and broken windows visible.

The Eblens moved from Los Angeles to Loudoun County in 1990. Interior designer Suzanne Eblen and her husband Pat purchased and restored a farm in Lovettsville where she hosted sales. She later worked down the road from the former post office as a vendor at vintage store My Wits End, which she bought in 1993 when its owners left the area. It is where she met Amy Whyte, a self-taught interior designer and vendor at the store who became her business partner. My Wits End closed in 1996, but remained in her possession and was later let out to tenants. They purchased the abandoned Luckett property on March 28, 1996 for $85,000. It was subsequently renovated and reopened as an antique store the following August, originally called The Old Lucketts Store.

The store initially sold only antiques before expanding into home and garden decor (primarily furniture, paintings, and garden ornaments), with vendors supplying and showcasing items. The idea of "vintage hip" or "bridg[ing] that gap with the old and new" was adopted in later years. Eblen has described an intention for the store to reflect the building's "character" without entirely modernizing or preserving it. Her eldest son Wyatt and his wife Ashley opened the Young Lucketts Vintage Store (shortened Young Lucketts Store or Young Lucketts) at the My Wits End building on February 7, 2026, intending it to be a "bold" and "funky" twist on The Old Lucketts Store aimed towards younger consumers.

Architecture

Sam Luckett's Store was moved to the back of the lot and incorporated into the current complex when it was constructed. The building is an example of shingle-style architecture, rare for the area. It is two-and-a-half stories tall and has green wood shingles. The first floor has period storefront windows and square brick columns supporting a recessed porch. It housed the community general store, with the post office operating out of a back corner. The upper floors, where the Lucketts lived, feature casement windows and shed dormers, the latter added post-construction when the attic was finished. The 12-room layout includes a glass-enclosed sunroom and a dining room with an integrated sideboard. The building's configuration was worked on in the 1996 renovation, but according to Eblen, "the bones were good." Events A fair, the Lucketts Spring Market, has been hosted by the Lucketts Store every third weekend of May since 1998, where numerous vendors (including those unaffiliated with the store) may showcase their vintage or "vintage-inspired" items. The fair relocated in 2017 from the Lucketts Store and Lucketts Community Center to the Clarke County Fairgrounds in Berryville due to increasing demand. No fair was held in May 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A new fair, the Lucketts Fall Market, was specially held in October 2021 as conditions improved, and a fair has been held every October and May since. Tickets are required for entry.

Other activities have been offered on the store grounds. A holiday-themed ticketed event has been hosted every November at a similarly aged farmhouse north of the store, referred to as the Holiday House. As of 2018, the Holiday House was called the Design House and opened the first weekend of every month with a different style designed by Whyte, coinciding with an on-site monthly flea market, Lucketts Flea. Painting classes (using Amy Howard paint, previously featured at the store and branded after the entrepreneur by the same name who is a past vendor at the Lucketts Spring Market) as well as a "Succulents in a Teacup" workshop were offered at the store by the staff. A Groundhog Day sale has historically been held in February. Aside from the annual Holiday House, these activities do not appear to have occurred for some time.

Legacy

Lucketts was named after the Luckett family, who featured prominently in the area. It has become known for its vintage emporiums, with some customers visiting the Lucketts Store from other states. Several other antique and home goods stores have been established at the crossroads, including The Beekeeper's Cottage (open ), Foundry (opened in 2020), and The Cottage (opened in 2005). The store has advocated for the refinishing and painting of old furniture. It has promoted local paint brands, with one such brand naming a color "Lucketts Green," inspired by the store's siding. A nearby brewery named their American lager Lucketts Store Light and provides the store with wine for its events.

Awards

+Best of LoudounCategoryYearsResultAntiqueStore, 2021, 2026

+Loudoun's FavoritesCategoryYearNomineesResultAntiqueStore201611rowspan="3" 201772018352019332020 rowspan="7" 202152022820234202452025720265

Notes

References

External links

Lucketts Store website Lucketts Markets website