If you're furnishing a house on the island and want pieces with some age to them, The Plantation Shop has sold antiques, home décor and gifts on Amelia Island since 1978. Wilson Tennille, Jr. runs it as the second-generation owner. His mother, Bonnie, opened it as a home accessories and gift shop, and it's still family-owned.
The specialty is English and French country antiques and antique smalls. Wilson travels to the UK six to eight times a year to buy from longtime English dealers and at international antique fairs, and the shop works with those dealers to have each piece refinished before it comes over. Six or seven antique shipments arrive each year, while home décor and gifts come in weekly and change with the seasons, so the shop takes on a new look after every shipment. The stock covers:
- Casual pine, walnut and oak chests, console tables and end tables
- Mahogany chests and early Georgian pieces for a more traditional room
- Traditional and coastal home décor and gifts mixed in around both
The store fills two buildings under live oaks at Palmetto Walk Shopping Village, 4828 First Coast Highway, Suite 4. Despite the name, it isn't inside the gated Amelia Island Plantation; Palmetto Walk is on the public highway north of it. New shipments and photos from buying trips go up on the shop's Facebook and Instagram pages, so that's where to check what just arrived.
Waterwheel Cigar is a short way south on First Coast Highway if someone in your group would rather wait with a cigar. If a large piece needs to be delivered to a second home while you're off the island, key holding covers letting the delivery crew in.