Make the Drive Worth It

There is no joy quite like happening upon some corner of the world you weren’t expecting. You don’t forget it easy. You want to keep it a secret and tell all your friends at the same time.

My mom created just such a corner in a sleepy little town in the far reaches of North Idaho. Stop in on a normal Saturday and you’ll find dozens of visitors, each with the same reaction upon stepping through the small wooden door into the cozy, warm room: mouths open, eyes pan slowly, side to side and floor to ceiling.

“Wooow… can you believe this?”

Shelves are neatly packed with bolts of colorful patterned fabrics. Antique wooden cabinets showcase fine Delft china. There are sturdy old-fashioned toys, bins of specialty hard candies, books and cards and calligraphy supplies, needlepoint, embroidery, appliqué, quilting, sewing, watercolor, basket making, canning, and housewares.

A smorgasbord (here’s a short video) of color and texture, old and new, simple and luxurious, rustic and refined.

There’s something for nearly everyone. But my mom tells me it resonates particularly well with a new generation of moms who want to sew for their little ones, and who are rediscovering Grandma’s hobbies.

She doesn’t advertise. They tell each other.

And the farther you walk through the space, the more layers you discover. At the heart, you’ll find my mom behind the counter cutting fabric for a customer - that chatter of the metal scissor blades opening and closing is one of my favorite sounds on earth.

At the back, you may find my Grandma Jan carefully threading yarn through the heddle of one of the huge wooden Swedish draw looms, perhaps teaching a class. Behind her, the entire wall is cross-hatched with dark wooden cubbies, each cradling a stack of richly-hued yarn spools, making one large mosaic.

The store is called Gathered.

Think of it as a three-dimensional reflection of my mom’s passions and curiosities. Over the past few years, she and my dad have travelled all over the world, visiting friends and helping serve our church. Everywhere she goes, she collects - ideas, but also inventory. You’ll find things from Germany, Wales, South Africa, Sweden, Argentina, and beyond.

When we first moved to town, the building (which sits at the main intersection) was known as The Kozy Korner. It was an eye sore. Stucco smeared across the walls and painted purple, a sagging roof. Inside, drop ceilings grimy from decades of what you’d expect in a greasy small-town diner, and a maze of dark, creepy hallways.

We bought it for $110,000.

The best-located piece of real estate in a town hardly anyone paid attention to.

In just a few months, we stripped the interior, laid a new wood floor and exposed the beautiful timber roof trusses, and added bathrooms. The exterior got a major overhaul as well. Like most of the projects, we did almost all the work ourselves, saving a lot of money and making creative choices as we went.

We didn’t set out to build a detour, but a destination.

Doing something like this as an island unto itself would probably be financially irresponsible, but Gathered is no island.

It is only one piece of a whole ecosystem of old buildings our family and community have restored over many years: the 1920s Ford garage turned bakery and creamery, the old train depot turned boutique hotel, the mercantile turned butcher shop and second-story offices. If folks have to make a drive, you better make it worth it. But the remoteness is part of the appeal, the mystique of creating “hidden gems.” It took years of work and saving, one project making the next a little more possible.

I haven’t lived in Deary for seven years now, but the ten years I did were deeply formative - and endearing. It’s my second home (maybe still my first?).

If you visit, not only will you meet the places, but the people who’ve restored them and who love them.

Here’s to creating more hidden gems in places you wouldn’t expect, to spreading joy, bringing back rural commerce, and building vibrant community.

How many other ugly old buildings are still waiting patiently in your town?