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Derrick McElhaney with some of his vintage treasures
COPPER TABLE: A triangular copper coffee table seems to float in place. Flanked by two leather sofas and two velvet chairs, the table’s 67-inch hypotenuse is a perfect complement to the angle of the chairs.
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PAINTING: A large oil painting by Jutta Demay is the first place one’s eyes rest when stepping in the front door. McElhaney spotted it for sale in Colonial Beach and calls it “the purple lady.”
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CLAM SHELL: On the floor of their Florida room is a giant clamshell full of ostrich eggs resembling pearls. The clam shell was a birdbath when McElhaney found it. He and his mother had to roll it to the car.
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BRASS SUN: On a wall of their office hangs a copper and brass sun face that McElhaney says is attributed (most likely made by but not signed) to Mexican artist Sergio Bustamante. “I love brass,” he explains.
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WOMB CHAIR: Awaiting refurbishment is a prized 1957 Womb Chair designed for Knoll by architect Eero Saarinen. Flinchum camped out at an estate sale to be sure to snag it for McElhaney when the doors opened.
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CHEETAH: A life-sized brass sculpture of a cheetah sits in a corner of the dining room. McElhaney first saw it in the entrance of the Sound of Music studio in Scott’s Addition and purchased it from the owner.
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POP ART: McElhaney bought a relief collage of Las Vegas by 3-D pop artist Charles Fazzino before marrying Flinchum in a surprise ceremony there.
In a 1959 suburban ranch house just north of the city, Derrick McElhaney and Colby Flinchum have created an oasis of style. It makes sense that their home would be full of color and design because that’s their focus as owners of a shop full of retro furniture and home accessories. They recently closed up their Scott’s Addition shop, Eviction, and reinvented it at 2401 Westwood Ave. as Dust Vintage Home Furnishings. “We love our new place,” McElhaney says. “It’s … 15 minutes from everything.”
Six days a week McElhaney is on the hunt throughout Virginia and Maryland while Flinchum minds the store and sells real estate for Long & Foster.
McElhaney is an experienced picker whose mother sparked his interest in vintage. “Every Saturday we’d go to yard sales, and then we started going to estate sales and auctions,” he recalls. “She trained me, and now she helps me.” He’s been finding and reselling full time for the last eight years, starting on the posh website One Kings Lane. His target finds are Midcentury, Hollywood Regency and items made from the 1940s to the 1980s. “It has to be old, can’t be new,” he says. “If it’s old, it’s made well.”
Throughout their home are big, bold and colorful statements of their favorite era, and they fit perfectly with the bones of the house. After purchasing it two years ago, they did some interior painting and backyard landscaping, but chose to leave the cabinetry and older kitchen and bathroom fixtures intact. Their sectional sofas and Danish shag rugs fit seamlessly with the original wood-paneled walls as if they’d come with the house.
At home on a recent rainy afternoon, McElhaney identified some of his favorite things, some sentimental and others that fit perfectly with his decor, which changes periodically as he switches items around between home and shop.
Dust Vintage Home Furnishings, 2401 Westwood Ave., is open Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
