Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
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84 FALL 2019 T WO THINGS WILL LIKELY GREET YOU UPON ENTER- ing Andrew Spindler Antiques & Design in Essex: Daphne, owner Andrew Spindler's sweet Boston terrier, who joins him every day at work and a sense of serenity, because Spindler's shop isn't packed with dusty relics. The shop, which opened in 1998, offers a fresh way of looking at antiques. Spindler dis- plays them almost as if his store were an art gallery— one where you can touch and pick up the goods. "What's different about my approach is I've always moved away from too much volume," says Spindler, who grew up with an eye for beauty and an interest in art and design. "One of the great phobias that people have about antique shops is that they're these eye-glazing firetraps. I've always wanted to give breathing space to shop nshoremag.com/nshorehome/ Spindler's shop looks for art gallery than antiques shop. pieces and highlight their sculptural qualities. There are great things from all periods, and so I want to present each of them as great objects with their own style and design, but all in conversation with one another." The result is an airy, white-walled shop offering a variety of vignettes that Spindler has created with fine period furniture, works of art, decorative items, curiosities, and lighting from the 17th to the 20th century. "Antiques used to be a trophy thing, and through them you would see their owners knowledge and sense of refinement," says Spindler. "Now the big trophy thing for homeowners is the kitchen, which is not a place to hang fine art. But people still want things that are special, and not necessarily expensive, but different. So the way people buy antiques now isn't to create a period interior, but to buy interesting objects to make a strong stylistic statement." Before Spindler devoted himself to the world of antiques, he was in academia. He had already received his master's degree in Spanish literature at Yale Univer- sity, and was contemplating pursuing a Ph.D. to become a professor when a dear friend and mentor convinced him to follow his bliss. So, in 1992 Spindler moved to London to attend Sotheby's Institute of Art in London, where he immersed himself in the world of furniture,