About
The Seawife is a shop at Viking Village in Barnegat Light that sells decorative pieces with a sense of history. Its stock includes American-made folk art, older collectibles, nautical salvage and antique quilts, along with garden items such as birdhouses, urns and iron gates. Visitors can also walk through the gardens on the grounds.
The shop occupies a schoolhouse built in the 1890s. According to its history page, the building first stood at the edge of the bay in Harvey Cedars, where Jason Fenimore's five children went to class until a new school opened in Barnegat City, now Barnegat Light, in 1906. It later housed the family's cows and then served as Fenimore's office, survived the 1944 hurricane, and in the 1950s was moved behind the Loveladies Gift Shop, a former lifesaving station, where it became an antique shop.
After the gift shop became a private residence in 1988, the LBI Historic Preservation Committee saved the schoolhouse from demolition. The current owner later moved it to Viking Village in Barnegat Light and restored it using salvaged materials from buildings of similar age and style, and it once again holds antiques. The site also refers to an 1800s building known as the Bull Run Barn.
The shop describes its stock as casual rather than precious. Collectibles generally date from 1950 or earlier and quilts from before 1930, and the mix also includes industrial, country and architectural pieces and recycled or reinvented items. The website lists hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday through Sunday, and has pages for upcoming events and recent arrivals.
