IN THE MIX

CORDELIA FASOLDT OF GRAY HOUSE ART & ANTIQUES IN MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA GREETS A CHIC, YOUNG, AUDIENCE WITH A FRESH CURATION OF ECLECTIC FURNISHINGS AND DÉCOR.

- Marni Elyse Katz

MOST FOLKS BRISTLED ABOUT HEADING BACK to working in person. Not Cordelia Fasoldt. When she and her family relocated from Beacon Hill to a house they fell in love with in Beverly Farms, Fasoldt found work-from-home life less than satisfying. I missed interacting with people,” she remembers. I felt restless and ready to try something new.”

That’s not to say she didn’t have doubts. The 38-year-old brand strategist had only ever worked in corporate America. As an older millennial, the narrative was: Put your head down and be a good worker,” she says. It felt radical to even think about trying something else.” Then, she passed by an empty storefront in downtown Manchester-by-the-Sea that she couldn’t resist. Gray House Art Antiques was in business six months later, in October 2022.

The 700-square-foot shop inhabits the ground floor of an unassuming pale-gray clapboard house with a gable roof and charcoal-colored trim. It’s been a real estate office, a law firm, and, many years ago, a gift shop. It feels very New England and honest to the area,” its newest shopkeeper says.