A Downtown DeLand business institution is making a move! After 34 years, Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage is in the process of relocating from West Georgia Avenue to a spot a few blocks away.
Stepping through the doorway of Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage, customers and antique enthusiasts alike are greeted with a bounty of vintage trunks, brightly colored stained-glass windows, elaborate mirrors, and piles upon piles of metal and wood pieces intended to restore or enhance a home or business.
Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage will continue to operate out of their current location of 112 W. Georgia Ave. throughout the remainder of March, while owner Mark Shuttleworth and his team continue the work of transferring thousands of antique and reclaimed items to the new, two-level, courtyard space at 319 E. Voorhis Ave.
Shuttleworth sat down with The Beacon to reflect on the history of his Downtown location, and to describe some of the exciting changes that will occur in his businesses and for the West Georgia Avenue space that he has operated out of for more than 30 years.
WELCOME TO ‘LA HACIENDA’ — A work in progress! Mark Shuttleworth stands in front of custom-made gates March 6 at the new location for Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage, at 319 E. Voorhis Ave. The new location is not yet open to the public, but Shuttleworth urges visitors to visit his West Georgia Avenue storefront as he prepares to move.
The beginning
Shuttleworth moved his antique and salvage business from Sanford to Downtown DeLand in 1989.
“I had been in Sanford, in an old citrus packing warehouse, for about seven years, but I had the opportunity to buy this building [in DeLand]. It was kind of beat-up, and the whole neighborhood here was mostly just warehouses,” Shuttleworth said. “It was kind of a back road, back here. But I bought it and started the business, and the business grew.”
As his retail business and local community engagement took shape in the early 1990s, Shuttleworth and his wife, photographic artist Anna Tomczak, opened Café DaVinci.
“[Anna] and I opened up the cafe — just on a Friday night for people, mostly artists. We’d have people drop by, and it was like, ‘Well, do you want a glass of wine?’ And then we’d do artwork. Then somebody brought a guitar and wanted to play — they built a little stage for him,” Shuttleworth said, describing how the location morphed into a venue. “The place quickly grew in popularity. So we opened up Saturday night and started to open to the public … and that just grew from there until it was a full-fledged business.”
About 12 years ago, Shuttleworth leased out the cafe space to the current owners, Dan Reed and Mark Dam, who have worked to reinvigorate the public’s interest with a vibrant calendar of local and touring musical and theatrical events.
Since those early days, Café DaVinci has continued to grow to become a staple of the Downtown bar and entertainment district.
Three-and-a-half years ago, Shuttleworth sold the 112 W. Georgia Ave. space that houses both Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage and Café DaVinci to Reed and Dam.
“I sold it to them with the stipulation that I could stay for three-and-a-half years, but now time is up,” Shuttleworth said.
“It’s the end of an era,” Reed stated as he spoke warmly of the symbiotic relationship between the two businesses, and how he will miss seeing Mark Shuttleworth there.
“He’s such a great guy, with such a great vision. He always knew Café DaVinci had a lot of potential,” Reed said.
As Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage and Café DaVinci reach the end of their rental arrangement, Reed reflects on how it will be an adjustment for Café DaVinci, and how it will be “weird” without Shuttleworth and his gallery of antiques next door. As of publication, Reed did not report any solid plans to alter the space quite yet, as he and Dam will wait to determine a use once the space is cleared out.
Today, the West Georgia Avenue location can be seen as a veritable hub of history, design, art and performance. A popular Friday-night market in Artisan Alley thrums with life, in stark contrast to the dilapidated buildings and empty businesses of the 1980s and ’90s.
As Shuttleworth prepares to make the move to East Voorhis, he reflected fondly upon his decades of business in the Downtown business district.
“It’s been a real pleasure to be a merchant in Downtown DeLand. The MainStreet DeLand Association has been very supportive. All the festivals make it a nice place to do business. It has that best of a small town, community feeling to it, “ Shuttleworth said.
A TEAM EFFORT — Mark Shuttleworth’s team poses March 6 on top of lumber to be transferred to their new location. It takes a dedicated team to move the thousands of items that have filled the rooms of Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage over the past three decades. From left are Melissa Donarski, Milton Smith, Winston McGregor, Holroyd Samuels, Jim Hansen, Derek Riley, Mark Shuttleworth and Rodevia Chambers.
What’s next?
Shuttleworth operates with a unique vision and a dynamic business model. The space on East Voorhis differs from Shuttleworth’s previous location in both footprint and architectural style. There are large, decorative gates that open into a courtyard — welcoming you to “La Hacienda.”
The gates serve as both a striking aesthetic and as a practical advantage for the retail outfit.
“You can open them up and back right in. It’ll be an interesting change to move there. Currently, it’s outside of the Downtown, pedestrian, retail, bar, and restaurant kind of scene. It’s just outside of that right now. But yet, there’s a big apartment complex in the next block over. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens to East Voorhis Avenue,” Shuttleworth observed.
As Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage adapts into the new space, Shuttleworth will continue to offer contracting and restoration work to individuals who are looking to enhance their home or business.
“We do contracting work and restore antique windows. We’ve done work at Stetson University, restoring their historic buildings, and we have windows that we sell and fix up ourselves, for people doing home repair,” Shuttleworth described.
As of publication, Shuttleworth did not have an exact date of reopening planned. “I think we’re going to have a jerk chicken thing for all my guys. Play some Jamaican music, drink some Red Stripe Beer, and celebrate getting it all done and moved,” Shuttleworth stated.
