Creating a Stir

"I've wanted to own a store since I was five..."

“I’ve wanted to own a store since I was five,” says Lisa Wofford. Once she discovered beautiful Beaufort, South Carolina, and a gracious old house to restore, she unleashed her imagination in two delightful shops that awaken the artist in others.


Beaufort hasn’t been the same since Lisa Thomas came to town. Bubbly and energetic, a professional events planner from the sophisticated Northeast, she arrived six years ago to run a tennis tournament nearby – and never left. “It’s such a wonderful, peaceful little town,” she says, settling on the lower piazza of her 1880’s house, just blocks from the Intracoastal Waterway and its ramble of islands. “There are artists, painters, really good food and a great collection of early houses. Some, like this one, have been renovated, others haven’t.”

Porch-sitting, however, is hardly Lisa’s style. In short order, she married Peter Wofford, a writer, and opened her first store in the historic center of town – a delightfully eclectic blend of high-end antiques and handmade hats, jewelry, soaps and body products. “I’ve traveled a lot, and I saw no reason why Beaufort shouldn’t have the fashionable, well-crafted things you can find in larger towns,” she explains. In honor of her artists, she dubbed this first shop Out of Hand: The Art of Living -– though Peter sometimes claims that I’m the one who’s out of hand,” says the entrepreneur with a laugh, reaching down to lift their baby daughter, Emma Claire, into her lap.

Motherhood hasn’t slowed Lisa’s front of ideas. At her newest Out of Hand shop, subtitled “The Art of Creating,” you can not only see and buy fine papers, jewelry, floral arrangements and scented candles, you can also learn to make your own and find all the best materials to do so. “I’m the kind of person who thinks, ‘Hey, I could do that!’ Now we’ve got people all over town feeling the same way.”

The Beaufort house Lisa fell in love with – a classic four-over-four-room structure, with a master bedroom and separate cottage added later in the back – had already been partially restored. Unfortunately, all its solid old doors, claw-foot tubs and some fireplace mantels had vanished; so the first thing Lisa did was hunt through salvage and antiques shops to replace those fundamentals. “I feel it’s important to ekep the historic story line of a house,” she says, “then shake it up!” In decorating, she’s no stickler for period accuracy, believing that “furnishings should e a reflection of who you are. And I like the unexpected.”

In genteel dining rooms, for example, the regional tradition inclines to dark mahogany Chippendale or Queen Anne. Lisa prefers honey-toned tiger maple chairs, left, around her table – “a mix I collected in ones and twos.” To set off the tall, shuttered windows and crown moldings in cream, she chose a bleu for the walls “that’s formal yet light and airy.” A trio of pale columns, matched by three more in the opposite corner, serve as perfect pedestals for flowers and candelabras.

For Lisa, a significant part of the renovation was replacing all the lighting in the house with the antique bronze, gilded and crystal-drop confections she collects. “I’ve been a treasure hound for years,” she admits.

As if being the creative force behind her two shops along with planning parties and events (including that annual tennis tournament) for her clients weren’t enough, she already has her eye on other fine old houses throughout the low country that need a Lisa-lift. “I love restoring old houses, and there’s so much potential here,” she sighs happily.

Lisa Wofford’s second idea-crammed shop, above, is housed in a Beaufort schoolhouse built in the 1860’s for free blacks. And once again, it’s something of a school. Wander into Out of Hand: The Art of Creating to order invitations on beautiful papers or find a unique piece of jewelry for a gift, and you’ll see a wonderful selection right next to the materials needed to make your won. Want help? The shop offers classes, too.

“When I felt the urge to do these things,” says Lisa – who insists she’s a “dabbler”–“I could never find the right supplies: the glycerin for soap, say, or semiprecious stones and nice clasps for jewelry. We have it all. We see what’s in fashion, whether it’s bookbinding or stenciling floorcloths, and resource the best materials immediately.” Lisa’s concept in retailing combines what she calls “perfect ambience” and “getting people to explore their own creativity.” And it has the place hopping at all hours.

As music drifts through the store, a bride might be planning her flowers in one corner while a group of youngsters paint lemonade glasses at a table. In appealing vignettes, ribbons and wrappings, antique tables and planters, body oils and dried wraths tempt the browser. Baskets hold such little finds as natural skeleton leaves, ideal on gift tags or cards. Someone is bound to pop in to get help with a project from Juli Mills, who is the shop manager and also an accomplished jewelry designer.

Many an evening, light and chatter pour from the schoolhouse windows, as small classes meet to learn floral arranging or paper-making from an expert. “Friends like to sign up together,” says Lisa. “It’s the perfect girls’ night out.”