By Claire Sachse
claire.sachse@tryondailybulletin.com

Landrum will soon be seeing construction on a new business at 219 N. Howard Ave. Approved by the Design Review Board on Nov. 24 and Landrum City Council on Dec. 9, plans call for a 3,800 sq. ft. gallery for high-quality crafts, artwork, pottery and furniture from regional artisans. The property is four lots west of Hot Spot.

The Creative Cottage, as owner and developer Jennifer Mock plans to call it, will feature “something for everybody, but it won’t be a flea market.” Most of the vendors will be from South Carolina and Western North Carolina, she said, perhaps reaching into Tennessee and Kentucky. In addition to vendors, Mock will also offer wholesale items.

When shoppers enter the building from the columned front porch they will come into a 1,400 sq. ft. vaulted exhibit room flanked by approximately 950 sq. ft. vendor areas on either side. After opening, Mock plans to use some of the area on the side for artists to offer classes.

When Mock purchased the property a year ago, her original idea was to use the house on the property for the business. However, due to its age, it had to be torn down.

Mock and her husband Doug very carefully salvaged all the material they could from the house, including flooring, doors and bricks. They plan to recycle those materials into the new structure. A semi truck on the property now contains all the salvaged material. The architect’s plans call for the building to be faced with logs.

A long-time crafter, Mock said that the idea for the business came from her own need to have room to put her crafts. She uses glass paint with metal leaf on plates, goblets and vases to create shimmering repurposed pieces.

“Wouldn’t it be really cool to have a place to display crafts?” she asked herself rhetorically. Mock also said that she and her sister were avid “junk shoppers” and art collectors, and so the idea for her first business venture was born from her passion for arts and crafts, the hand-made and re-purposed.

According to Doug Mock, their total investment in the property will be approximately $250,000. With approvals in hand from the Design Review Board and Landrum City Council, they will now start the building permitting process in January and construction thereafter. They hope to have vendors in place and the business open by Christmas 2015.