Photo by Jill Moore
Peter Patout is a New Orleans antiques dealer, appraiser and interior consultant who specializes in Louisiana Creole furniture. He works out of his French Quarter house and rents out the second house located on the property, in which he used to live.
“The back house was the principal house on the property, built by the Ayards in the 1820s,” said Patout. “The front house was built in the 1880s and became the main house.”
Both houses, furnished with Patout’s collections of furniture and “smalls,” have been featured in shelter magazines and lavishly illustrated books. “My back house is in New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence and my front house is in Creole Houses,” he said.
Now Patout has another house on which to work his magic.
“About two years ago I inherited my grandmother’s house in Patoutville, about seven miles from New Iberia,” he said. “This is the house where my father grew up. I spent a good deal of time there as a child. It was an important part of my life.”
One reason Patout likes the house is that it has had few “improvements” made over the years. “My objective is to take care of what’s there,” he said. “Just clean it and paint it.”
“I like to shop in different places to see what’s on the market,” said Patout, who was pleased that readers picked Yesterday’s Treasures on Commercial Row in Woodville, Mississippi, as their favorite antiquing destination from those he nominated. “It’s in a historic building perfectly located on the old town square,” he said. “It houses local dealers with a good eye. You can always find good reasonable furniture and decorative arts there. Things are well displayed and fairly priced.”
Jody Bradley and his wife own Yesterday’s Treasures. “Barbara and I are both retired,” Bradley noted. “She’s a retired teacher and I’m a retired prison warden.” During his career Bradley spent some time at a correctional facility near Woodville and the couple ended up moving back when they retired. “Barbara and I have always done antiques on the side.”
And so they opened the antiques shop when they moved to Woodville in 2005.
Asked which of the “treasures” that have come through their shop they’ve found most interesting, he’s quick to note some unique Victorian furniture and custom vintage jewelry from the early eighteen and nineteen hundreds.
Yesterday’s Treasures shares the historic space with a pawn shop and a small loan company the couple also operate.
“In a town as small as Woodville you have to diversify. We’re a mini-conglomerate,” Jody Bradley said with a chuckle.
Yesterday’s Treasures 152 Royal Oak Woodville, MS Monday—Friday 9-5, weekends by appointment. To see the runners up and read about Peter Patout who served as curator for this category, CLICK HERE.
