What, When, Where: Bent Nail Farm Antiques

By Kaitlin Madden

One of the greatest things about living in Boston is how close the city is to so many other awesome places. Drive two hours north, and you’re skiing in the White Mountains. Four hours south and you can spend a weekend in New York City. And less than an hour in either direction, you can find yourself on the beach in any number of postcard-worthy coastal towns that feel eons away from urbanity. 

My husband and I recently took a break from city living to enjoy some of those quaint coastal towns to their fullest–we rented a home on the South Shore for a few weeks, and spent weekends exploring the harbors, streets and beaches of Scituate, Hingham, Cohassett and Marshfield. Though we found many places worthy of return visits, the discovery I’m personally most excited about was a happy accident that I can’t wait to return to: After visiting an art fair in the center of Marshfield over Memorial Day weekend, we saw a sign for an antiques barn and decided to pop in. I’m so glad we did. 

Photos by Kaitlin Madden

Bent Nail Farm, as the barn is called, is stocked with everything from beautifully preserved furniture and appliances, to old sports equipment, and collections of antique lanterns and kitchen canisters.

And everything is very reasonably priced (the tripod lamp, below, was under $200). 

There is one catch, though. The farm is only open on the last weekend of the month. But it’s totally worth the wait. Bent Nail Farm, 113 Highland Street, Marshfield, Mass., (781) 834-7123, bentnailfarmantiques@yahoo.com