A 19th-century pine chest in Dolly Archer English Antiques and Goods’ inventory once held vestments in a Nottingham church. More than 7 feet wide, it has nine drawers arranged around three open central shelves, with tulip feet and brass hardware that soften its workaday form. In a contemporary home, the broad-shouldered case can offer abundant storage, while adding character to a room with its signs of wear.
The chest captures Richard and Thais Wood’s affinity. Though their Fort Myers shop carries objects spanning several periods and styles, its identity rests largely on 17th- and 19th-century English country antiques: sturdy oak and pine furnishings built for farm cottages and village life.
The Woods fly to London every eight to 10 weeks before heading northwest to Worcestershire, where Richard grew up and his parents, now in their 80s and 90s, still live. Drawing on relationships formed over decades, they spend days moving among large antiques fairs, smaller village markets and trusted dealers around the Bredon Hill area—known for its agrarian charm. The purchases are inventoried, wrapped and stored until there is enough to fill a 40-foot container bound for Florida. “I had my dad with us,” Richard says, recalling an early shopping trip in England, back when his father was still highly skeptical of their new endeavor. “We started buying a few bits, and he goes, ‘You two are crazy. This is a fool’s errand.’”
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Photography by Christina Bankson
dolly archer antiques fort myers refurbishing antique wood
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Photography by Christina Bankson
dolly archer antiques fort myers english antiques
The couple founded Dolly Archer English Antiques and Goods in 2018, sourcing furnishings, functional antiques and decorative objects that reflect agrarian life in Richard’s native United Kingdom.
Richard owned an antiques business in England for more than 17 years before moving to Fort Myers in 2009. Thais came to town in 2012 after years of working in international banking in Hong Kong, wanting her children to live closer to her parents. She had grown up around antiques and watching her parents restore historic homes in southwest Pennsylvania; Richard introduced her to the English countryside heirlooms he had spent his career handling.
The couple met in 2015, married in 2018 and founded Dolly Archer the same year, combining their grandmothers’ first and last names for the shop’s moniker. Thais now takes the lead on design and aesthetic, while Richard coordinates the daunting shipping logistics and workshop restoration. “We want to make sure that the time those pieces spend with us extends the amount of time they’re going to be around,” he says.
Most of the larger pieces are oak or Richard’s preferred pine, with tones ranging from pale caramel to rich honey. Thais describes the surfaces as having a “mellowness”—the warmth developed through age and use. The Woods search for sound construction, balanced proportions and wear that enriches the look without compromising function. “There’s a certain look about English pine,” Richard adds. “There’s no other pine that looks like that. You could put that beside a piece of European pine furniture and a piece of American pine furniture, and one would know the difference.” A 19th-century pine hutch in the showroom illustrates the appeal. Its silhouette is simple, and its drawers reassuringly heavy. Hand-carved details reveal the craftsman’s desire to make the hutch distinctive.
Photography by Christina Bankson
dolly archer antiques fort myers richard cleaning antique wood
Richard cleans and prepares each piece before it lands in the showroom or the online shop. He fixes structural issues but leaving minor imperfections visible to preserve character.
With every piece, Richard researches its provenance and structural integrity, then cleans and prepares it for the showroom or online shop. When one requires repair, he draws on decades of experience, using hand tools and age-appropriate vintage hardware to keep true to the object’s origins. “We want to preserve the pieces’ story, but we want them to be right for modern life,” Thais says.
Sometimes that means little more than conditioning the wood or coaxing a drawer back into line. Elsewhere, a 300-year-old heavy top may need a support column added, or decades of old wax and grime must be stripped to uncover the original grain. Richard leaves nonstructural cracks, scuffs and old repairs visible. Most modifications are modest and practical—like a storage shelf added to an old butcher block without disturbing the hollow worn into its worktop by decades of chopping.
They share the histories in the details, explaining how a chair’s engraved crest spoke to the original owner’s family legacy, or how a well-scored breadboard and knife once used by Richard’s grandparents now anchors their dinner table. Storytelling has fueled Dolly Archer’s growth. The shop began as what Thais calls a “hobbyish” passion project. Her descriptive Instagram posts and the couple’s Chairish listings expanded its audience, while the surge in online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic helped turn it into a full-time venture. The couple now imports three 40-foot containers annually, with about 1,000 pieces in each: pine potboards, writing desks, linen presses and smaller finds—brass door knockers, coopered vessels and hand-sewn World War I postcards. The objects bring character to homes in a region that often builds new and designs with resale in mind.
Photography by Christina Bankson
dolly archer antiques fort myers stack of antique books
The Woods attribute stateside interest to the countries’ shared history. Some clients trace their ancestry to Britain; others respond to the romance of village lanes, country houses and objects passed down. For the couple, the idyll has a living source. “I think of the way of life in the part of England we spend time in,” Thais says. “People are still going around the village on horses. You can be sitting out in the garden and hear a few girls come up the lane—they’re on their ponies, just down the village street.”
On a recent morning, when a container arrived, the Woods assembled a crew of friends. A former bodybuilder, an Army veteran and two of Richard’s tennis mates unloaded coffers, farmhouse tables and sundry home goods into the Florida sun. On both sides of the Atlantic, the business moves through unhurried hands and shared stories. “That’s the England that we try to bring to people,” Thais says. “Our connection, our time, our heart is in those little villages around Bredon Hill.”
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Photography by Christina Bankson
dolly archer antiques fort myers antique english scale
The couple imports three 40-foot containers annually, with about a thousand pieces in each including decorative objects and domestic goods.
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Photography by Christina Bankson
dolly archer antiques fort myers woodworking tools workbench