Imagine a beautiful, vaulted space cloaked in the palest of fawn, cream and dove gray. A lovely church lit with sunlight streaming through arched floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto green Hunt Country vistas.

Now, imagine that this space is filled with stunning but subtle French, English, Swedish and American antiques and decorative pieces designed for comfort and understated elegance, and you have a sense of the ambience at Matthews House, a new Upperville, Virginia destination for discriminating designers and shoppers.

Created by Wanda Crossley, who for many years owned The English Manor in Leesburg, Matthews House is a highly refined version of her first fashionable shop. In Upperville, however, she promises she will soon add a garden shop filled with topiary, beautiful architectural pieces, dish gardens and custom containers.

"For almost ten years, I had a landscape design business in Cleveland, and gardening is really my first love.

"We will, of course, also offer interior design services," Crossley said. "It will be such a pleasure to meet and assist clients in this beautiful region."

An exceptional designer who demands expert craftsmanship and technical skills from her team, Crossley is widely recognized for her ability to understand and interpret her clients wishes.

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, she grew up around the corner from the carriage house home of a well-known interior designer who often threw away her wallpaper sample books. "I could not resist those books when I found them one day on my way home from school," Crossley remembered. "I took them home and cut them up to cover the walls of my room. My love for interior design began then."

"If I had been a more talented mathematician, I would have been an architect, but I'm so happy as a decorator and interior designer that I wouldn't change a thing."

When Crossley decided to leave Leesburg and open her business in the western part of Loudoun County, she searched for an exceptional space with historic value that she could purchase and renovate.

She knew the minute she was shown the Upperville Primitive Baptist Church building that it was the space she'd been hoping to find. The congregation formed in 1775 and we think the church building is well over 100 years old, but it had stood vacant for some time.

"Its bones were excellent and, although it had been neglected for years, I could immediately see how beautiful it would be with a little care and attention"

Although it took months to design and renovate it, the space is now as light and elegant as a fabulous Paris apartment or gallery.

Whether you delight in bench-made French furniture, 18th century art, antique china, her complete line of case goods, distinguished lamps, linens and lighting, stylish carpets and window treatments or white bisque copies of ancient Italian pitchers and covered dishes, you will find many treasures at Matthews House in Upperville.

Matthews House is located at 9160 John Mosby Highway (Route 50) in Upperville, Virginia. 540 592 7147. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Sundays and open on Mondays by chance.