Jameson Homestead Antiques, among the last of Avon antiques scene, closing for city recreation offices

Jameson Homestead Antiques, the last remaining antiques store in an area of Avon where such shops previously flourished, will close at the end of the year. The store, at 36675 Detroit Road, opened in 1979. The city bought the property in 2018, but under an agreement with Mayor Bryan Jensen the store's longtime owner, Mary Ann Brown, continued to operate it until her death in August. Brown and the building's previous owners, the Forthofer family, wanted the city to preserve the building, Jensen said. Built and owned by the Jameson family from 1906 until the Forthofers bought it from them, the property includes the original house and barn on just over 1 acre of land. Jensen and Brown had a long-term agreement that as long as she was capable of running the antiques store, the city would rent it to her, he said. "If you ever got to know Mary Ann Brown, I'd say she was certainly a hard worker," Jensen said. "The deal with Mary Ann was my word, and Council's allowed me to keep that word for as long as it's gone on. … I'm going to miss her there. You always want to root for someone who works hard and keeps tradition going." After the store closes its doors officially at the end of 2025, the city plans to turn the house on the property into offices for its recreation department, Jensen said. When the city originally purchased the property, it planned to turn the building into a visitors bureau. But a year later, the city bought the Wilbur Cahoon House on Stoney Ridge Road — a historic building constructed in the early 19th century by some of Avon's first settlers. With the Cahoon House more suited for a visitors bureau or museum, which the building now houses, Jensen said the plan for the Jameson Homestead building shifted to the recreation department. The idea is to centralize more city offices in the downtown area of Avon, he said. This summer, the city purchased the old Avon Village School, across the street from the homestead at 36600 Detroit Road, for use as a new city hall. The recreation department previously was with the parks department at 35001 Schwartz Road. Jensen said the switch will make both departments less congested and more accessible for residents. "It all fits with downtown and still allows people to come in and see that building at times," Jensen said. While the house itself will be home to recreation offices, Jensen said the city plans to restore and use its adjoining barn for educational programming. "We could have different activities in the barn, restored back to what it would have looked like when they had horses or other livestock in there to give kids an idea of what it would have been like," he said. "We want to keep it intact in terms of the way it would have looked." Representatives from the store itself did not respond to requests for comment. Mike, an employee who declined to give his last name but had worked in the store for over 20 years, said employees are "dismayed" with the last remaining antiques store on the block shutting down. Avon's French Creek district, as the area near the corner of Detroit and Stoney Ridge roads was known, was once renowned for its antiques store scene. In June, Anne Marie Shinko-Brown — the daughter of a couple who ran The Country Store at 2536 Stoney Ridge Road for decades — launched an effort to revitalize the area by converting the store into a boutique shop. But while Jensen said the city needs the space for recreation offices, rather than spend substantially more money to purchase a different property for the offices, he hopes the charm and history of the property will be preserved. "It was one of those where it's sad to see it go," Jensen said. "It comes down to what you would have to charge for rent to make that a viable building. … There's a lot of history there that people can walk through, and that's the charm of it." Contact Richard Perrins at (440) 687-5172 or email rperrins@chroniclet.com.