A 1770 Georgian Gem Antique Dealer s Home Photographed for Old House Journal Country Sampler

When I first met Andrea Hollenbach, she was behind the counter of her antique shop Collector's Choice in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. I asked if her home was filled with antiques. She smiled and said yes. We asked if we could see it and that one conversation led to two magazine features nearly a decade apart. This is a Center Hall Georgian Colonial built in 1770 and it is very nearly original. The beadboard siding, the dental and Roman key trim work and even the metal roof are all faithful to what this house would have looked like in colonial times. And that small window tucked near the roofline, that is a spirit window. Colonial builders added them to give spirits a way out of the home, a charming piece of history. Walking in, it's the architecture that stops you first. The center hall, the straight stair, front and back doors, the perfect Georgian cemetery. But this house has another layer that makes you stay and look at every corner. The stenciling, the paint colors, the collections that fill every room. Andrea and Stan didn't just preserve a 1770 house, they lived in it. We photographed this house twice, nearly a decade apart. Once for Old House Journal where the story was the architecture and antiques and once for Country Sampler where the story was the collections, the color, the life Andrea and Stan had built inside these old walls. You'll see both visits here. The dining room tells its own story of discovery. When Stan and Andrea pulled up the floors, they found evidence of an original corner fireplace, so they put one back exactly where it belonged. The wide floorboards came from the attic, almost nothing here is an accident. The layered rugs, the hooked mats, the samplers on the walls, every piece was chosen in place with the eye of someone who has spent a lifetime collecting. The kitchen is where Andrea left her most personal mark. She stenciled these walls herself, a colonial pinwheel pattern, a swag border near the ceiling, and a sponge-painted ceiling above it all. It's a decorating technique that colonial homeowners used instead of wallpaper. Then there's a fireplace. An open hearth this size was the engine of an 18th century home and Andrea filled it in the way it would have looked when it was still in use. Iron pots, trivets, hooks, chains, and a rifle on the mantle. This isn't a display, it's a way of thinking about history. If the kitchen belongs to Andrea, the living room belongs to Stan. He painted these walls himself, four or five shades of yellow, layered to make the dark form of furniture come alive. A William and Mary desk, a wingback chair, a fireplace that draws you in, and tucked into every corner, Andrea's collections. Painted toile, carved birds, pin cushions she's been gathering her whole life. Two people, one house, every inch of it intentional. Andrea and Stan Holenbach spent over 40 years filling this house with everything they loved. Every painted door, every iron pot, every carefully placed collection. We were lucky enough to photograph it, twice. This is what it looks like when a house is truly lived in.