It's a place to linger over a cup of tea and savor the leisurely pace of a time long since past. Located near historic Lake Minnetonka in the small suburb of Excelsior, Minnesota, "Antiquity Rose" is an intriguing blend of restaurant and antique shop that attracts customers from all over the Twin Cities.

 

Visitors can browse through several rooms of antiques, eat lunch, and if they wish, buy the china, glassware, table and chairs they used during their meal. "Customers are often amused when we some times ask them to please stand up to exchange a chair because another customer is interested in buying it,' says owner Bernadine Blader, an attractive mother of five, who turned her hobby of collecting antiques into a successful business ten years ago.

 

Bernadine admits she didn't do a lot of planning before greeting her first customers on a chilly March morning in 1974; in fact, the idea of starting an antique shop had occurred to her only a few months preceding the opening of "Antiquity Rose." "My friend Barbara Wolter and I were at a New Year's party," she recalls. "Barbara mentioned that she'd noticed a vacant store in Excelsior that used to be an old livery stable. We got to thinking—wouldn't it be fun to open an antique shop there?"

 

Two months later, the two women had transformed the former livery stable into an antique shop which Bernadine christened "Antiquity Rose." "We wanted to call the shop "Secondhand Rose," after the song," she explains, "but the name was already used." Because Bernadine was set on a name that signified both a woman's name and the color pink, Antiquity Rose was created.

 

At first, most of the merchandise came from Barbara and Bernadine's personal collections. "We did buy a few things at estate sales," Bernadine adds, "and we found some other items in relatives' attics and basements."

 

After the shop had been open for about 18 months, Bernadine took over the business from Barbara and annexed more space in the building she was renting. About six months later, when finding room to display her ever-increasing number of treasures was still a problem, she decided to purchase a turn-of-the-century house located across the street.

 

The quaint 2-story structure at 429 Second Street became the "new" home of Antiquity Rose in 1976. The house, which Bernadine and her husband Bob decorated, has plenty of nooks and niches for displaying such items as a cuff and collar box, tatted booties from the 1890s and sections of wrought iron fencing that once stood in front of an old post office.

 

Toys, pictures, clothing, china and glassware are displayed throughout the house. Among the more unusual items is a horsehide blanket, which was used to protect sleigh passengers from winter winds, a letter opener with a handle fashioned from a deer hoof, and a handcrafted sterling silver dresser set from Canada.

 

Furniture too can be found at "Antiquity Rose," including a hoop skirt chair upholstered in a richly colored tapestry and a serpentine oak dresser with a tilting mirror.

 

And in the past, Bernadine has sold such diverse items as a birthing chair, dressers with rooster heads carved into the wood and "Gone With the Wind" era pieces obtained from an old Southern mansion.

 

Because there is so much to see, customers often spend a great deal of time browsing. And when lunchtime arrives, they don't have to leave the shop in order to enjoy a tasty meal. Rose's Tea Room, located on the main floor of the antique shop, is open Monday through Saturday and attracts about 100 luncheon guests each day.

 

"People would often ask where they could have a cup of coffee in town," Bernadine says, recalling how the idea for a tearoom began. "The drug store was the only place they could go, so I thought it would be nice to offer them a cup of tea and a bite to eat."

 

It didn't take visitors long to discover that the Victorian-style house where they admired antiques was also a pleasant place to enjoy a refreshing drink and a light meal. After the tea room had been in operation for a few months, sandwiches were added to the small menu, followed shortly by homemade soups, a variety of salads and hot dishes, and desserts, which even the most determined dieters find difficult to resist.

 

In addition, many flavored teas are available for sipping. Popular entrees include taco salad (a colorful combination of lettuce, diced tomato and onion, seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese and crushed corn chip), strata (a quiche-like dish containing ham, broccoli and cheddar cheese) and a tempting variety of open-faced sandwiches, all topped with generous amounts of melted cheese.

 

"When we first opened," Bernadine says, "men tended to avoid the tea room because they thought it was a ‘Ladies Only' place." But lunch specials such as salmon loaf topped with cream peas and accompanied by a tossed salad and warm bran muffins soon changed their minds. And the luscious desserts have won over even the most reluctant male visitors.

 

The men who frequent Rose's Tea Room usually choose to sit in the country-style room located on the side of the house. Formerly an unheated porch, the now bright and cheerful dining area has antique tables and chairs and red carpet. Café curtains done in a country print, a wainscoted ceiling and grey siding on the walls create an informal "down home" feeling.

 

In the adjacent formal dining room, the wallpapered walls are decorated with artwork from the early 1900s and the table settings, complete with glass candlesticks and vases filled with silk flowers, add a romantic touch. A painted hutch containing glasses and china stands in the corner, and a Victorian-style combination fan and light fixture is suspended from a beamed ceiling.

 

While diners relax in the comfortable surroundings, Martha Severson is busy preparing food in the restaurant's efficient kitchen. Martha, who started at Rose's as a kitchen helper, gradually worked her way up to her present position as cook. Bernadine says of her young chef, "Martha has a natural talent for seasoning food. Her soups are really special. She cooks with love." "Cooking just comes naturally to me," Martha explains. "My mother was a caterer and I learned a lot about quantity cooking from her." Martha has also learned how to make breadsticks and bran muffins, which according to one customer, are addictive. And her Chocomint Medley and rhubarb torte are popular with the dessert crowd.

 

After satisfying their hunger, customers can spend a leisurely afternoon browsing among the collectibles and antiques. Just about everything in the shop is for sale, and Bernadine has even been talked into parting with things she had no intention of selling! "Once a man begged me to sell him a painting of a pretty Victorian lady with a wide-brimmed hat. She was my image of what a woman named "Antiquity Rose" might have looked like. I just couldn't say, "No," she recalls with a smile.

 

Customers also like hearing about the history of the items they purchase, and "Antiquity Rose" has become known as the "Storybook House" because Bernadine and her employees attempt to gather as much information as possible about each item that's for sale. "If the story about something we have in the shop isn't available from the person who brought it in, store employees will do their best to research the history of the item from the books," Bernadine says.

 

In addition to being knowledgeable about antiques, Emmy Peterson and Ellen Ahlm, another of Bernadine Blader's longtime employees, know how to make customers feel welcome. Both women enjoy the "people contact" their jobs provide, and it is their warmth and enthusiasm, Bernadine feels, that make "Antiquity Rose" more than just a place to buy antiques or sip tea.

 

Whether they come for a few minutes or a few hours, visitors are always greeted with a smile. "We get to know the people who come here," says Emmy, "and they become our friends." A regular customer commented, "Emmy gave me such a warm welcome to the town when I first came into the shop. That's why I keep coming."

 

Another reason customers return, Emmy believes, is because "Antiquity Rose" is a place where people can experience the serenity of the old days. She explains, "We've attempted to recapture the mellowness and geniality of a bygone era, and it's Bernie Blader who sets that tone of relaxation and goodwill. I think we're unique and that's kind of refreshing."