A passion for local foods drew Sarah Holway to the historic village of Waterford, where she and a friend turned an empty storefront into a studio for interior design, floral design, and storage for the antiques they were collecting. When her friend moved to France, Holway also made a transition, retiring from DC Greens, the nonprofit she’d started in Washington, D.C.
“I had more time to focus on the shop and what it could be and mean for Waterford,” Holway said. “It’s been slowly evolving over the last four years.”
In addition to local merchandise, she’s added coffee, beer, wine and food. Now, the store is more than the vintage, local and handmade goods it sells along with interior design services; it’s also a community hub and a destination for weekend visitors.
“When people ask me what kind of store it is, it’s hard to explain,” Holway said. “It’s kind of like a general store but not really. What I saw and kept hearing over time was, ‘We need coffee; we need a place to have a drink; we need a place with food.’ Being a tiny business, it’s helpful to offer multiple reasons to come visit. It’s always been vintage, local and handmade things for the home, and I do design consultation.”
What drew you to the Waterford area?
During my time at DC Greens [a nonprofit Holway co-founded in 2010 to improve access to healthy foods], I also ran an urban farm of about 1 acre and connected with a lot of farmers, and that’s what led me out here. I joined a CSA [community-supported agriculture program] and started coming every Friday to pick up my food, and I moved out here to be closer to my source of food. I had a lot of friends in the farming community, and foods and local food systems have always been important to me.
Looking around at options for food in the immediate area, there are a ton of diversified vegetable farmers growing food out here but not a ton of casual restaurants that offer carefully, locally sourced healthy food. Seeing that as missing, I wanted to make that happen.
How do you feel the elements of the store—design, food and local products—complement each other?
When people come in the store, a lot of them say they feel that the space is welcoming, soothing, relaxing; they just want to be here. Everybody has their special skill, and I feel like mine is creating an environment that feels good. The elements of that are usually food, lighting, visual design, what you’re looking at, as in the elements in the space. The textures and colors and materials are all very important. I lean toward wanting to pull all of those things together, and I feel really happy doing this.
When I left DC Greens I thought, is having a store going to have an impact on the world? It seemed superficial to sell things, but over time I’ve come to realize I’m creating a space that feels good for people and offers them healthy foods, natural wines, things that are sourced carefully and handmade, things that are locally made, and alternatives to the standard lifestyle that many of us are caught up in leading.
How would you describe the aesthetic of your store?
It’s eclectic, a lot of stuff from upstate New York, and that is a bit of a style, a little antique-y, a little mid-century modern thrown in. It's warm. I choose things for the shop not really having some pre-imagined idea about what I need, just if I see something that calls out to me, I bring it in.
Do you have any tips for creating a space that feels good in your home?
The most important thing is having things that are previously owned. New items lack some soul, lack warmth. It’s always going to make your space feel better. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a new piece of furniture. Sometimes you have to, but limiting that as much as possible is key. And having at least three lamps in each room is a necessary priority. Lighting is incredibly important.
Tell me about the food products you offer.
They are all very nourishing and healthy and incredibly beautiful. Everything chef Estelle Richer-Legault does has a gorgeous presentation. The sourcing is hyper-local, and she does a lot of gluten-free and dairy-free options. She’s from Montreal, and her food has a French twist. It’s all beautiful without being too precious.
Are there particular items or foods that have become customer favorites?
Everybody loves the local hot dog we serve. We also have a grazing board that changes every week based on what’s available and what Estelle decides to make. Most things are sourced from local farms, and the menu changes supposedly monthly but really weekly. She’s an artist, and she has to be creative with her cooking or she gets bored.
Do you host tastings or other events?
We do offer private dinners. Estelle is starting a small plates menu, which will be available Thursdays through Sundays, and we sometimes have wine tastings with a local winemaker.
How does your store reflect the culture of the local community?
The culture of the village has always been very social, back into the 1800s, with people getting together for dinner or walks. It’s always lacked a place they can come in and find each other on a Friday afternoon having tea. What we have here is a place that’s casual, comforting and welcoming, which is how I feel about the people who live here. When I moved here, everyone was so welcoming. I was constantly being invited over for dinner or drinks. Just the casual interactions you have with people on the way to the post office have carried over into the shop.
How do you hope your store impacts your customers and the local makers you work with?
We work with local bakers, and Estelle sources all the vegetables from Moutoux Orchard in Purcellville. I really like being part of that web of local food production. We have someone local who carves wooden spoons, another person who makes little wooden boxes, and the wines we carry are from Hillsboro. I like creating a web that I can then illuminate for people and help them see how local economies are valuable and important. Going forward, I think that’s going to be more important than ever.
Do you have any favorite foods or products in the store?
I love all my lamps. And I love Estelle’s grazing board. It’s beautiful, and it’s almost enough for dinner on a Friday night with a glass of wine.
We have really beautiful wooden spoons carved by Drew Lotten, a contractor in Lovettsville. In his spare time, he uses felled wood to carve incredibly beautiful spoons that are very affordable, and that’s one of my favorite things.
What’s next for your store—any plans or expansions on the horizon?
I never operate with long-term vision; things always happen organically in my life.
But music I think is next on my radar. Local musicians have played here before, and I’ve been talking to a local musician about how we can create a structure that supports local musicians with a regular income stream.
What have you learned from your experience running the store?
I love living in this village and feel incredibly grateful to be here and doing what I’m doing.
I always thought I knew what collaboration meant, doing a lot of collaboration in my previous job. But over the last year or two, I’ve learned what true, deep collaboration is that has an element of interdependence in it. In order to build this web of local economies, the relationships need to have an element of real collaboration, where the needs of your business aren’t greater in your mind and heart than those of the person you are collaborating with, their business. Having everyone’s needs feel of equal importance is something that’s arisen with various partners over the last year, and it’s felt really good to sit across the table from another business owner who is struggling a little bit, thinking through how can I support this person but never feeling like ‘I can’t do that because my need is more important.’ I feel like I’ve gotten to the core of what it means to be in collective work with people, and that’s felt really good.