Women in Business: Barbara Ashford, Judy Hill - Henhouse Antiques

For Judy Hill and Barbara Ashford, co-owners of Henhouse Antiques for 20 years, it’s all about the hunt.

“We never know what we’re going to see on our buying trips,” Hill said. And their buying trips are anything but ordinary, especially for an antique store that features European pieces dating as far back as the 17th century.

Hill and Ashford travel to Europe three times a year to build their inventory of hand-selected, handcrafted antiques from England, Sweden and France. Sometimes they may start their trip with specific pieces in mind, either for their store or for customers, but Hill said, “You can’t make a grocery list” because they don’t know what antiques are there. “So it’s always fun when you arrive just to see what’s available,” she said.

As of recently, Henhouse Antiques started offering a service for customers to order handcrafted tables from England in addition to the antiques. While the tables are technically new, they are built “in the old ways,” and contribute to the wide selection of furniture, art, accessories and jewelry that Hill and Ashford find for the store.

Because there is not an unlimited supply, Hill said it makes everything they discover unique with its own story to tell and each piece fashions a house into a family’s haven. And it’s those same antiques that help make what they do a “dream job.”

► WHERE: 1900 Cahaba Road

► CALL: 918-0505

► WEBSITE: henhouseantiques.com

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