New Westporters know it as Talbots.
Those with longer memories lovingly recall Esther Kramer’s Remarkable Book Shop.
But in the 1950s Edie Van Breems’ aunt actually lived in the 1775 home, at the very visible Main Street/Parker Harding Plaza corner, before it turned into a business.
Which is why the native Westporter feels honored to restore the fabled property to some of its past glory. The 18th century chestnut post and beam frame, reclaimed basement and resurrected courtyard all pay homage to its historic past, beginning as sea captain Ebenezer Coley’s trading post.
Yet Eleish Van Breems Home‘s new flagship store also brings both 21st-century style and timeless whimsical touches that make it — well, a remarkable addition to downtown Westport.
Edie Van Breems, with original the building’s beams.
EVB opened earlier this month. There was no grand announcement or splashy party.
But — after watching and waiting, during 2 1/2 years of meticulous renovation — many intrigued downtown visitors are wandering in to the warm, inviting space.
They are thrilled at the transformation.
The main floor. (Contributed photo)
The custom furniture, accessories, Swedish antiques, vintage lamps, bronze windows, French oak floors, walnut shelving and Italian staircase are stunning first-floor features.
Upstairs is a “floral aerie,” with wide-open views of the Saugatuck River.
The 2nd floor “aerie.”
Downstairs, Van Breems and her business partner Rhonda Eleish pay homage to the Remarkable Book Shop. Books, cozy nooks, kids’ toys and puzzles, and touches of pink all recall the beloved store.
The owners remember feeling so welcome there. Now they’ve recreated the mood, with a “fika bar” on Thursdays and Fridays. (Fika, a Swedish tradition with coffee and pastries, is a late afternoon time to relax with friends, or alone.)
Even the basement (accessible through a trap door, but closed to customers) shows the devotion paid to the restoration. The crib construction at the base of the chimney — filled with rocks from the Saugatuck River, which until the 1950s lapped up against the back of the house — is still there.
Wood in the basement came from trees that were already 200 years old in the 1700s. The original bark remains. A dehumidifier runs constantly, ensuring they’ll last for many more decades.
Eleish Van Breems Home general manager Brendan Dempsey, with the bark still on centuries-old wood by the chimney.
Edie Van Breems’ Westport roots do not date back to the 18th century. But they’re plenty deep.
Both sets of grandparents lived here. Her relatives, the Nespor family, once owned the building she has now renovated. (That’s how her Aunt Julie — still alive, in Florida — came to live there.)
Van Breems and Eleish love Westport. Longtime friends, they both graduated from Greens Farms Academy.
They opened their first store on Railroad Place in Saugatuck, across from the train station where both their fathers commuted. It was convenient for them to head into New York City, and for their clients who came from there.
Rhonda Eleish and Edie Van Breems. Their new flagship store has views of the Saugatuck River.
They expanded to Woodbury, New Preston and Nantucket. But Van Breems’ life goal was to get the Main Street building back in her family.
During COVID, they seized the chance to buy it.
“The Remarkable Book Shop was such a part of everyone’s hearts,” she says.
Now — whether customers remember that legendary store or not — they once again feel welcome in the space.
The Eleish Van Breems Home store has kept the footprint and look of the Remarkable Book Shop. This is the view looking south, from the corner of Main Street (left) and Parker Harding Plaza.
Main Street, after all, is “where the action is,” Van Breems says.
And Westport is “a design destination.” She points to a number of downtown home furnishings stores, including several in nearby Sconset Square.
They’re not competitors, she notes. After all, when she and Eleish opened their antiques business in Litchfield County in the 1980s, there were 165 other dealers.
Westport’s newest design store. (All photos/Dan Woog unless otherwise noted)
“You want to be in a cluster,” Van Breems says. “There is something for everyone in this town. We’re all collegial. We want people to come in, and come back.”
Since the soft opening a couple of months ago, people come. They stay. And they come back.
Ebenezer Coley and Esther Kramer would be proud.
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Five years ago this week, Westport was just settling into the new reality of COVID.
The weekend’s nice weather had brought large crowds to Compo Beach, though the parking lots were closed. Town officials — worried about close contact (even outdoors), and cars parked all along Soundview Drive — scrambled to react.
Soundview Drive, the first weekend after the lockdown. Town officials quickly cracked down on parking there.
The Trader Joe’s line wrapped along Compo Acres Shopping Center storefronts. Only a few shoppers were allowed in at a time. The checkout line was — like every other part of life — dictated by “social distancing.”
Schools desperately tried to figure out “distance learning.”
Trader Joe’s enforced social distancing rules — with their own very recognizable font.
And that was just the first couple of weeks.
Five years later, how have we changed? What effects linger — negative or perhaps positive? What do you remember most about those uncertain, frightening days?
Earlier this month, “06880” asked readers to weigh in. Here’s what you said.
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In May we decided to move to a senior housing domicile. It was beautiful, and well-maintained. My beloved husband lived there for 5 days; then he passed (from his heart condition). A few weeks later, I was diagnosed with COVID and quarantined for 15 days in a new home, where I knew no one and was totally isolated.
So I can’t say that the pandemic treated me favorably. I’ve gotten all the shots I could possibly need to protect me against the next outbreak of something — I hope. — Bobbie Herman
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We were raising our son in a 1- bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village. Wanting more space and family, we gathered a few things and our cat, and went to stay with my mother in my hometown of Westport. We expected to be there a few weeks, a month at most.
As spring and summer passed, my husband and I got used to the spaces, the beach, the green. We got spoiled with multiple bathrooms, a convenient washing machine and drive-thru Starbucks. We got to know the town better, the stores, the people, and eventually looked into the schools. When we saw that a cute house was less than a decent 2-bedroom in our neighborhood (crazy, this was 2020) we decided to stay.
Five years later I miss New York terribly. I miss my community, and easy access to all that culture. But I am happy with our decision to stay. We have settled nicely, embraced the town that has changed so much since my childhood yet is so familiar. I knew we were settled in when we did something I would not do in the city: adopted our dog. — Juliet Koskoff Diamond
Late March, 2020: Starbucks’ drive-through was one of the few places that seemed normal. So long as you didn’t get out of your car. (Photo/Rob Hauck)
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Not for all, but it was a glorious time for my husband and I. We started the pandemic as new grandparents. Our daughter and her husband moved from the city into our home, thinking it was only temporary.They ended up purchasing a home in Fairfield. Now we have 5 grandchildren, 4 of whom were born during the pandemic (the first was 5 months before. That’s how our life changed, all for the better: It gave us an immersion of love and family time.
And we never got COVID — until last July. — Dorothy Robertshaw
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