I recently visited Loch Lea Antiques in Paris, Ky. Loch Lea has been a fixture on Paris’ Main Street in the same location for the past 23 years, and is a great place to search for quality antiques (they’re 35 years in the antiques business).
As I entered the shop, my first impression was just wonderment at the number of antique items available. Although Loch Lea isn’t especially large in terms of square footage (they’re located in a wonderful downtown historic building), every inch of the space they have has been carefully used to display their ample inventory. This is not one of those antique stores where you go in and rifle through piles and stacks to see what you can find. This is more of an “antiques boutique”; every place has a thing, and everything has its place.
The store is carefully and conveniently organized into sections, where “like” items are grouped together. It makes it easy to find what you’re looking for once you’ve visited the shop a time or two, and it helps you to make comparisons between similar items. For instance comparing a piece of Bybee pottery with a piece of Cornelison pottery, considering different Murano glass designs (yes, they carry beautiful Murano glass) or contrasting the different styles of turn-of-the-century photographers is all made easier when similar items are displayed together.
Loch Lea’s inventory includes a nice variety – pottery, glassware, silver sets and silverware, linens, small furniture items, art, photographs and much more, but they specialize or are especially known for Kentucky antiques, equine art and memorabilia, a rare collection of antique needlepoint art, and an ample selection of truly “unique” antique items. On the day that I visited the store, they had a wonderful old cobbler’s bench and a ladies wooden jewelry box that included a compartment that folds out into a writing desk (I’d never seen examples of either of these type items before) .
When you visit Loch Lea (they don’t yet have a website, but you can find them on Facebook!), bring your pocketbook or wallet. While they certainly have a nice variety of affordable items (really nice selection of affordable “one-of-a-kind” wedding or anniversary type gifts), the bulk of their inventory consists of antiques that are more in line with antique galleries. I didn’t see any items that I felt were overpriced or out of line in pricing, but because of the quality and uniqueness of their inventory, shopping at Loch Lea requires an ample shopping allowance for your visit.
The shop is very neat and clean, and the staff was wonderfully helpful and extremely knowledgeable of the items they have in stock, and antiques in general (Thank you, Margaret!). You could easily spend an hour or two in the store and not realize how much time has passed. It’s a great way to spend an afternoon.
So if you’re planning to do some antiquing in Central Kentucky, be sure to visit Paris, as it has quite a few nice shops. And while in Paris, make special plans to stop in at Loch Lea Antiques. I promise you’ll not regret your visit, and if you visit once, I’ll wager you’ll visit again. Tell ‘em we sent you! Enjoy.
Loch Lea Antiques
410 Main Street
Paris, KY
(859) 987-7070