Antiques hunting is their big game

Mill House Antiques established Woodbury in the trade back in 1964 when it opened in a 17th-century grist mill four miles north of the village. Its restored antique buildings and charmingly overgrown country garden feel like an antiques theme park.

Mill House clings to Woodbury’s roots as an Anglophilic enclave. Its extensive showrooms are filled with English, Welsh, and Scottish furniture “with a smattering of French,’’ clerk Kerry Lawton says. Mostly dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, the substantial pieces of furniture represent Queen Anne, Hepplewhite, Chippendale, and Sheraton styles. Since the supply of antiques is dwindling, Mill House also commissions reproductions from British craftsmen using British woods.

Just as antiques convey a sense of history, the Woodbury dealers often have interesting tales. Monique Shay of Monique Shay Antiques is acknowledged for inventing an entire genre of decorator antiques. Born in Normandy, Shay “came here, got married, and had seven children,’’ explains her daughter, also named Monique. “Mom always wanted antiques but couldn’t afford them. Someone said, ‘Go to Canada — they’re burning the stuff.’ ’’ In short order she discovered French-Canadian painted country furniture, which she augments with accessories from France and Quebecois folk art.

The pine and maple furniture is both colorful and functional. Many decorators buy large pieces to create kitchen islands and counters. And the simple lines also go well with contemporary design. Monique Shay Junior (as she calls herself) has several pieces from the sprawling red barn that holds the shop. “They’re next to things I’ve found at flea markets,’’ she says. “My home is Early Miscellaneous.’’