I’m sure every one of you have friends on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram who you consider to be really good friends, though you’ve never met them in person. Joanie Ballard, the other of
R.H. Ballard, fits into that category for me — it seems like I’ve known her, and we’ve posted on each other’s accounts, for a long time—and it was surprising to realize that I’d never met her IRL (in real life).
Well, THAT ended on our jaunt out to Little Washington this month, when I got to hang out with Joanie and tour her gorgeous home interiors store and art gallery.
Joannie Ballard poses in front of her shop on Main Street.
Joanie and her husband Robert decided to move out here from the DC area several years ago, and never looked back. I can see why, in this elegant little town where everyone knows everyone and you’ve got views like this out your back window:
This is taken from the White Moose Inn, which is right next door to Ballard’s.
The store itself is filled with treasures from floor to ceiling—you could walk around for a long time and still not spot everything.
They’ve got a great collection of Moroccan rugs—and the table here sits on a base of grape vines—appropriate for this part of the country.
More rugs in the window
If you love French table linens, this is the place to go.
Don’t forget to look under the tabletops—several more levels of surprises are hiding underneath.
The store is memorable for its saturated colors.
Watches and wallets like candy!
And who could resist an entire table of John Derian….
Downstairs, under the store’s gorgeous coffered ceiling (which, unbelievably, was painted by the previous owner), is the art gallery.
My absolute favorite is this painting of Teddy Roosevelt at the top of the stairs. Can you spy Teddy posing for the sculptors at Mount Rushmore?
I also loved this painting downstairs, just leaning against the wall on the floor. I found myself staring at it for the longest time:
And does your spouse ever surprise you with something he or she totally falls for, which you never would have pegged for them? Well, here’s what caught Jim’s eye:
Across the street, the Ballards just acquired a piece of land next to the adorable Rappahannock News building, where they sell all manner of architectural salvage and sculpture:
“Artifacts” gives the newspaper building a built-in sculpture garden (to the left).
I’m already looking forward to going back to Little Washington, if nothing else for the wineries we get to stop at along the way, which is the subject of the next post… stay tuned.
