While history for some remains long in the past, our history with the gorgeous and grand location for our Spring Collection shoot plays a very real part in our present.  Bellevue, once the home of Colonel John Bowman and his family and built in 1784, now houses a selection of one of the largest (and most beautiful, we think) collections of fine English and Continental antiques in the nation.

Jayne Thompson Antiques has filled the historic home with everything from 18th-century English oak farm tables to museum-quality porcelain, all with an expertise and eye that comes with over 40 years in the design field.  Jayne Thompson, who founded the company in 1990, also happens to be the mother of one of our dearest and oldest childhood friends, Lori Thompson Finke, who now works alongside her mother in the antiques and design business.  

Both in the showrooms and at many prestigious exhibitions around the country (including upcoming shows in Charleston, Chicago, and New York) clients may see the variety and quality of their furnishings, as well as enjoy the full range of Thompson's service offerings.  In addition to their impressive furniture, accessories, and lighting from the 17th to the 19th centuries, Jayne Thompson antiques provides their internationally-based clients with sourcing, restoration and repair, custom reproduction, and interior and lighting design services.  

Lori, her husband Mark, and Jayne work in tandem to provide the most complete and dedicated experience to their clients--and though they are based in the beautiful rolling hills of the Bluegrass, their skills reach far and wide--globally, really.  And Lori has learned first hand from the path her mother forged how to manage a wildly successful business that has one foot in the future, with one anchored firmly in the past. 

This is where the history of my friendship with Lori gets interesting:  Though each of us tells the story differently, the one thing on which we agree is that our teachers throughout school (as we found out much later) referred to us as "nitro and glycerine" and refused to invite the chaos and destruction that might occur should the two of us be seated together.  I'd like to think we were just creative and imaginative learners, but even in college when we were adult enough to be studying abroad in Paris (through my beloved alma mater Hollins University), our architecture professor finally said "Non!" to our side-by-side desk seating.  Yes, we were in our twenties.  No, it did not sound better in French.

[On the Champs-Elysees in Paris, December 1998]

We had many an adventure growing up: being kicked off soccer teams (her father was the coach--and, yes, Lori still blames me for the incident), dressing up as fruit for Halloween (a photo that will not be shown on this blog for obvious reasons), biking through the Kentucky countryside (even rescuing a dog on one trip), sleepovers nearly every Friday night (thank you, Thompson family, for feeding me almost every weekend from ages 8 to 17...and full disclosure, must also say a giant thanks to the Liebschutz crew, who also provided a second home and lots of snacks for yours truly between grades 6 and 12), a misplaced Eurail Pass in Italy (yes, Lori still blames me for that incident as well), a tiny but fantastic apartment near the East Village (mice and all!), and engagements, weddings, and now children (she has two boys, I have two girls)...and the whole wonderful history that still plays out every day between us.  Mostly on Google Chat these days, unfortunately.

But back to the antiques...we used to play "business" growing up.  All the time.  Pens, notepads, catalogs, calculators...you know, all the essentials for entrepreneurial pursuits.  And what is amazing is that we're both growing businesses today, some 25 years later.  Our histories have caught up with us, and as we arranged flowers, placed jewelry, and orchestrated models in the breathtakingly spectacular rooms of her family's antiques and design shop during our respective photo shoots a few months ago, I couldn't help but smile at the wonder of it all.  So much history all around us.  And between us.  And so much fun in store.

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(You didn't think we'd miss a chance to interview one of our best friends, did you?  We may have played pretend-business, but this was the real deal--enjoy!)

Emily Maynard/Elva Fields:  You grew up in a home filled with antiques and finds from far-flung places...what is your fondest memory of one such an object from your childhood?