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Photo by Corey Miller
Lucky Junque owner Janet McCartney houses an eclectic mix of antique and vintage housewares and decorations.
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Photo by Corey Miller
Situated just across the border of Norge and Toano, Lucky Junque is known by its big yellow chair.
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Photo by Corey Miller
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Photo by Corey Miller
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Photo by Corey Miller
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Photo by Corey Miller
Architectural odds and ends made popular by enthusiasts of farmhouse decor fill this 7,000-square-foot barn.
A shop in Toano just might have everything you never thought you needed. Lucky Junque opened in June 2018 as an antique, salvage and home décor store located in an old farmhouse that once housed a furniture store. Located off Richmond Road about three miles from Williamsburg Pottery, the house is easily recognized by the oversized bright yellow chair perched on the front lawn.
Inside the two-story farmhouse is an antique-lover’s paradise, with everything from well-loved cabinets and vintage dinnerware to old typewriters, cameras and radios. As a salvage store, it also offers items that can be used for projects, such as old windows, doorknobs and even Scrabble game tiles. Need some buttons? You can fill a bag for $5.
Much more than a store, however, Lucky Junque has become a gathering place for the community through DIY project classes, paint nights, outdoor movies, old-fashioned bazaars and charity events. A classic Chevy pickup on the premises occasionally serves as the background for family photo shoots.
“I want Lucky Junque to be a fun place where people can come and hang out,” said shop owner Janet McCartney. “I don’t care if you buy anything, as long as you have fun, or tell your neighbor about it.”
The farmhouse has enjoyed its new incarnation through the efforts of McCartney, who was born and raised in James City County, and her husband, Eric Brown. That Lucky Junque opened at all is the result of McCartney’s own reincarnation—in 2001, while living in Texas, she survived a plane crash when the twin-engine Piper in which she was riding ran out of fuel 9,000 feet in the air.
McCartney suffered a spinal cord injury and broke her back in three places. She returned, partially paralyzed, to Virginia in a wheelchair and gradually learned to walk again with the help of a cane. The experience, she says, changed her life in more ways than one. “I’m pretty hard-headed,” she said. “I could be mad or sad, or I could get my tail up and do something I loved. There are days that are very hard for me, but I’m motivated to keep going.”
Though McCartney and her husband also run a heating and air conditioning business in Richmond, it’s when she’s back at her shop that she feels at home. Customers who venture inside the shop become friends, and rarely does someone leave without a hug.
A step inside is a bit like a step back in time. Each room is centered around a theme—in the kitchen area, where oldies music plays, jars are stuffed with utensils just like you’d find in your grandmother’s house. There’s also an assortment of more modern-day goods such as homemade candles, salsas and soaps along with local honey.
Besides the farmhouse, there are two “she-sheds” and a 7,000-square-foot barn on the premises, the latter filled with architectural salvage pieces. Open just on weekends, the barn is full of old windows, doors, mantelpieces, lighting and even car parts. Lucky Junque’s wares come from all over, including from auctions, estate sales, flea markets or simply from people coming in with family heirlooms to sell.
The shop has already caught the eye of antique dealers from around the state. A winner on the HGTV show “Flea Market Flip” has been in to buy items. Others have had their eye on salvage McCartney managed to get from the historic colonial-era Carter’s Grove plantation.
“This is my soul therapy,” said McCartney, who jokes about being “Toano Gaines,” a nod to designer Joanna Gaines of HGTV fame. “I meet the nicest people. What other job do you get to play with old cool stuff every day? I’m living my dream.”
Kim is not much of an antiquer herself but has two prized family heirlooms—an old Royal typewriter of her grandmother’s and a piece of equipment that was on a Mercury Project spacecraft flown by astronaut Walter Schirra. She has no intention of giving them up.
