Leonards Donates 80+ Pieces of Antique & Reproduction Furniture to Bristol's Mount Hope Farm

Furniture World Magazine

Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, R.I., has been beautifully restored. A popular designer showcase left its walls and floors completely refinished. But old estate was missing one thing.... Furniture. Leonards New England owner Jeff Jenkins, an active Bristol resident and history buff, told the president of the Mount Hope Farm Trust, James W. Farley, that Leonards would be happy to donate some furniture to furnish the main house. "The Leonards truck was pulling up and I had no idea what to expect," Farley recalled while standing in the foyer of the white farmhouse. " The next thing I know the front lawn is covered with furniture, pictures, mirrors. Jeff comes in and starts planning, his wife is hanging drapes and he sends the truck back for more things." The Leonards truck would make numerous trips to Mount Hope Farm. All and all, Leonards New England would donate more than 80 items, a mix of fashionable antique and reproduction furniture and accessories, to the renovated landmark on Route 136. The donation included everything from a glorious four-poster bed; numerous antique sideboards; a leather-inlaid game table; and an original oil painting of a clipper ship; to an authentic Oriental carpet; marble-topped foyer table; a model yacht; a complete Sheridan dining room set; and a distinguished mahogany kitchen set with Windsor-back chairs. Mirrors, an upholstered sofa and chairs, paintings, bed linens, side tables, draperies and chandeliers complete the luxurious yet lived-in look. "Jeff had originally told to me he was going to give us a few beds," Farley said with a laugh. "Then he said, 'I think I am going to give you something else.' He ended up completely furnishing the Washington room, the library, the dining room, the kitchen, a bedroom and the hallways and foyer." As a member of the Mount Hope Farm Board of Trustees, Jenkins has toured the 127-acre, waterfront property many times. He knew that the beautiful old farmhouse was missing what it needed to feel like a home. An expert in antique furniture, Jenkins measured then hand-picked specific furniture to complement the house and its location on Mount Hope Bay. "I wanted the house to look as if a family lived there and they had just stepped out for a moment," said Jenkins, who has owned Leonards since 1988 and worked there since he was a teenager. "The estate is a treasure and now that it has been furnished, it can be used for weddings, meetings, and other social events. It is a spectacular attraction for Bristol." The Board members hope to have the farm eventually generate income, perhaps as an inn or small meeting location. In addition to Jenkins serving on the Board of Trustees, another link between Leonards and Mount Hope Farm is that a designer affiliated with Leonards in Seekonk transformed the ladies master bedroom during last fall's Newport Showhouse at Mount Hope Farm. As part of the Traditional Home Magazine House Tour 2000, the showcase was very successful and brought hundreds of people to Bristol to tour the farm and its many outbuildings. When the showcase finished, all of the furniture that had been brought in was sold or removed and wall treatments and refinished floors were all that was left behind. The sparse rooms provided the perfect backdrop for Leonards signature furniture. "This donation from Leonards has certainly gotten us moving in a very good direction and a lot quicker than we had hoped," Farley said. "Furnishing most of the main house is not an everyday occurrence and it looks very homey, it looks more natural." For more information about Leonards, visit our flagship store at 600 Taunton Ave., (Rt. 44) in Seekonk, call the store at (508) 336-8585, or log onto www.leonardsdirect.com. In the past few years, Leonards has grown from a family business to a $10-million-a-year leader in the antique and reproduction industry and added one-of-a-kind stores in Nantucket, Mass., and Westport, Conn. Leonards prides itself on offering a shopping adventure, a store where the furniture is constantly changing. You can visit Leonards one day, then visit it a few weeks later and see two completely different stores.