WAUPUN — Blue Heron Antiques reopened last week after a month as renovations were wrapped up on the facade and interior, bringing a whole new look to the downtown space.
The antique and boutique homegoods store, also known as Bh Home, is located at 309 E Main St and 311 E Main St in downtown Waupun. Owner Melanie Williams opened Blue Heron originally in 1996, and has grown significantly over 30 years of operation.
Williams has owned the building for some time and has planned these renovations but until this year did not have the opportunity to make the changes.
“I put a lot of thought into the new look—how I was going to tie that newer building into the look of the two-story buildings that really are in the downtown two or three blocks,” Williams said. “Downtown is basically all two-story buildings, so when designing the facade for 309—it is a one-story building—I needed to really think about that.”
“Windows, the color of the siding—and I wanted to give it its own identity with the green tile. Similar trim, similar light fixtures, but it does have a look of its own,” she said. “And I had to consider my neighbors and what color the neighboring buildings were so that I would blend in with those other buildings. I think what we did was very complementary to our downtown.”
As for the specifics of the renovations, only so much can be said in an interview and written in an article.
It’s best to be experienced in person, according to Williams.
“You have to come in and take a look at it yourself because you will be very pleased to see what’s going on in there,” she said. “We had to strip off lots and lots of carpeting glue to expose the hardwood maple flooring. And we put in posts and beams that may or may not have necessarily been there, and that allowed me to put in extra overhead electrical access so that I would have a place to display my vintage fixtures, and just have more ability to move furniture around and arrange merchandise a little easier.”
Williams said there was a bit of repair that was needed for the floor, which was able to be done with flooring from an old basketball court. She also left some of the concrete from the door that was put in during a previous renovation, saying she couldn’t cover it because it’s now a part of the building’s history.
She also pointed out the ceilings, which were 14 feet high. Previously, this space was covered by drop ceilings from previous businesses that were put in for a modern office look.
“We did not find the original tile on the ceiling, it was removed for some reason long ago,” she said. “There was a bit of the original tin ceiling in the front of the building right over the windows, up the width of the building by about 6 ft or so, and we did clean that up and restore that and replace that. It actually had wallpaper underneath it, which was the original ceiling covering before tin would have been used.”
Williams noted that they were able to save some of the samples of the original wallpaper, which she shared with the Historical Society.
But wallpaper wasn’t the only thing she found, nor was all of it that old.
“The wall between 309 and 311 had a very large beam that probably was placed there after the fire in 1965,” she said. “The wall must have been damaged and so the first third of the building has a beam to support the second story of the building, and then we did expose some of the brick that does support the other part of the second story to the back alley.”
Another thing that was added after the fire were tinted glass windows, which Williams said made it difficult for potential customers to even see that Blue Heron was open for business, which influenced her decision to replace them.
“I really wanted clear glass, and then we enlarged the windows, lowered the sills to give it a more vintage look,” she said. “They would have been lower because people didn’t have electricity and so they depended upon natural light to illuminate their products they had for sale or their working spaces. And I think that has really helped with people seeing the merchandise that I have available in the shop.”
“And the 311 now has arched Windows as well. Not many people have arched Windows downtown. There is one building just down the block. It was an old State Bank. They do have an arched window, but I thought, oh, we’ll just change it up a little bit,” she said.
She also added some decorative windows in the back corner of the space, which she said came off of doors that were in a carriage house she had stored for years.
“I’ve always wanted to use those windows in some way. So, I thought, well, we had to build up the wall from a nine foot level to a 14 feet high ceiling, so I might as well just put those windows up there and give it a little interest and a little texture.”
A row of old doors were also placed along the shared wall near the ceiling.
“I really set out about taking a modern office setting and transforming it into a space that really reflects historic features, and just the whole look of it and feel of it, and I feel like we did a good job of it,” Williams said. “I appreciate all the work that all the different trades people have done to help me create that. I’ve done some of that work, but not all of it, you know, so you have to really commend other people you know on their skills that they have.”
Williams was able to fund much of the renovations with the $10,000 WEDC’s Main Street Makeover Contest that she won first prize for earlier this year, announced at the Waupun Business Alliance Banquet last March. This included the prize money and professional design services provided by the WEDC.
The renovations and decorating were completed just in time to reopen the store for the holiday season, which kicked off last weekend with “A Christmas Welcome” organized by Discover Waupun. The three-day event went from Thursday, November 5 to Saturday, November 7.
Blue Heron is open Wednesday through Saturday, with the following hours:
Wednesday – 10AM to 5PM
Thursday – 10AM to 6PM
Friday – 10AM to 5PM
Saturday – 9AM to 2PM
