...A Brief Introduction to


The Last Unicorn

Unique Architectural Antiques

and Other Pretties for Home and Garden


The Last Unicorn was birthed in New Market, Southern Maryland in 1974-5 by Gaines Steer and Sarah Banta Smith. Originally The Last Unicorn was a country antique store, also featuring vintage clothing and arts and crafts on consignment.

Gaines “re-invented” TLU in North Carolina in 1994 both as a means to make a living and to showcase his growing interest in collecting and promoting unique architectural antiques. In particular the mainstay of the business is the wrought iron gate and stained glass windows. The original business plan is still intact, a source of pride and accomplishment.

The small, yet unusual, house which Gaines and Paul Konove (Carolina Country Builders designed and built in 1987-8 and “the most gorgeous 5 acres in the South…” soon became host and display to an ever-expanding collection of architectural embellishments….. The outdoor showroom is perhaps the only display of wrought and cast iron that requires a customer map to survey the premises.

The grounds include over a dozen themed display and demonstration areas with names like:

The Secret Garden The Iron Forest The Unicorn’s Lair Chapel Woods, NC Reincarnation Pathway The Yellow Brick Road Narnia Wood Planter Trail.

Not to mention (but we will) over a mile in antique laden trails which boast five most unusual buildings:

a screened gazebo; a community studio; the olde log cabin (circa 1800); the stained glass barn; the unicorn’s shoppe; and the famous Meditation Gazebo

Over 50 whimsical signs entertain customers at The Last Unicorn:

YANKEES WELCOME MOST DAYS PURCHASE REQUIRED TO EXIT MAGNETIC NORTH POINTS RIGHT HERE PLEASE DO NOT SALIVATE ON THE IRON WHATIS/WASIT? HUMONGOUS IS NOT A WORD, BUT IF IT WERE….ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF IRON IS RIGHT 4 YOU TO TELL THE TRUTH, WE FABRICATE OLDER THAN HELL, BUT A LOT MORE FUN OUR PRICES ARE RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE, UNLESS YOU HAVE POOR TASTE!PLS IGNORE SIGNS THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND….

It is understated to claim that The Last Unicorn is one of the major attractions on the East Coast of the United States! Scores of folks visit the Unicorn’s lair to “press the flesh” of the only remaining unicorn in this hemisphere. Some of them actually buy stuff.

In spite of the grossly unimaginative nature of most of the newspapers and magazines that have survived the digital onslaught, The Last Unicorn has been featured in lotsa places. From Southern Living to The Daily Tarheel. The Last Unicorn and its mystical/magical environ has been the subject that has intrigued their readers and writers.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Antique wrought iron: elder is better!

I have been referred to as “the gate keeper” ever since a newspaper feature writer penned that title on me about a dozen years ago. I’ll take it, as long as it does not get deposited on my tombstone…. (Reminds me of my step-son, Jeffrey, and his musician’s recorded line: “St. Peter when I git to that ‘pearly gate,’ please can we negot-iate?”).

Here is my point and I will be brief: antique iron from the United States, both caste and wrought, is of much higher quality that the iron that is available today. How’s that? Fact: old iron has 12-15% less carbon than newly smelted iron and is more malleable and much less likely to invite the enemy, rust. Ah so! And to make matters worse (I mean better!) that ubiquitous iron from China is really “pig iron.” What? This is so! The pretty iron stuff coming over in droves (i.e., containers) is very soft, hard to repair, and will rust worsn’n a tin bucket well before the next president is voted out-of-office or term-retired. I guarantee that!

Sounds like bad news…. Now wait a minute, please! We are all accustomed to a consumer mentality in which every “device” gets better and cheaper. You know: TV’s, cell phones, electronic gizmos. This is a virtual rule. (Oops! can’t use “virtual” as an adverb any longer…). So what I am saying is a contradiction (though not an oxymoron) to prevailing rule that “new is better.” In regard to wrought iron: elder is better!

Thus my gates, sometimes referred to as Gaines’ Gates, are indeed superior to all of those hollow, flimsy, cheap, and poorly cast from inferior iron junque that is being paraded over the airwaves, water waves, and via those slickpaper, yuppy garden magazines. Holy cow! I wonder if I can get sued for telling the truth? We’ll see….. Meanwhile, I invite y’all to visit with me and make up your own minds. Consider this an invitation!
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