By Jennifer Dearborn
The Parsons Advocate
Wach’s Gallery and Garden located at 552 William Avenue in Davis, West Virginia has a store, garden, art, books, and soon a commercial kitchen.
Martin and Delia Wach began buying and selling items to have funds to travel. This has now turned into a business they will retire from. The Wach’s bought a house in Davis in 2002. In 2018 they decided to make Davis their permanent home and opened their business. “We will die here,” said Martin, “we love it here”.
The Wach’s had books published in 2003 so they traveled from 2003-2018. They made over 700 appearances during this time, most of them being at schools.
“We came back because we missed the mountains” D. Wach said. Their daughter, Holly Wach, is a well-known watercolor bird painter. You can find her art in the Gallery, as well as rare West Virginia books.
Just out the back door of the shop is Uncle Tony’s Gold Star Victory Garden. M. Wach specializes in plants that grow well in the Davis climate. He focuses on pollinators. Some of those are Siberian Irises, Sunflowers, Indoor and Outdoor Succulents. Also growing in the garden are some herbs such as Comfrey, Mullein, Chamomile, and Mint. Delia noted that Comfrey and Mullein are both medicinal herbs. Nestled in the garden is a little manmade pond stocked with goldfish.
The Wach’s are training the fish to feed so children can feed the fish while visiting the store.
Almost every piece of furniture in the shop is made from slab wood. You can purchase slab wood furniture along with wood carvings from the Grandpa Moses of Carving. When buying things to sell D. Wach looks for items made in America, Mid Century Japan, Restaurant ware, European, and English China. The shop will be undergoing some renovations for a commercial kitchen. They plan on selling fresh baked goods out of their store once construction is completed.
The store is opened daily 10 a.m.-7 p.m. They offer garden tours daily. The Wachs also like to tell stories of how they came to be what they are today.