Day Trips: Fortney House, Nacogdoches
Former Austinite’s shop is filled with eclectic home furnishings
By Gerald E. McLeod, Fri., June 2, 2023
The Fortney House in Nacogdoches is a two-story shoppers' paradise. The 14 rooms of the 1897 Victorian mansion are filled with an overwhelming array of knickknacks, collectibles, real wood furniture, cultural artifacts, and art that boggles the mind.
Brad Fortney says he carries in his store what he likes and what he thinks other people will appreciate. That covers a lot of ground, from compasses to airplane propellers, hats, liquor cabinets, lamps, and even a moose head mounted on the wall.
Longtime Austinites will remember Brad's shop, Fortney's Artful Home Furnishings, on West Sixth Street with a life-sized Elvis and gorilla out front. The 74-year-old serial entrepreneur had the Austin institution for 22 years before he packed up and headed back to Nacogdoches at the end of 2018.
"Nacogdoches is like a warm blanket on a cold night," Brad says. "It's comfortable and cozy."
Raised in Indiana, Nebraska, and Houston, Brad's parents dropped him off at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches sight unseen when they moved back to Houston. He says that four years of studying art and sociology were some of the best of his life. It also prepared him for a life in the retail business.
Over the years he's owned a coffee shop, bookstore, record store, and a traveling DJ business. He had one of the first water bed stores in the Piney Woods, and that branched off into the furniture and home furnishing business.
The Fortney House is at 310 N. Mound St. on the edge of downtown Nacogdoches and a couple of blocks from Fredonia Brewery, another local institution. Fortney's is part museum, all eclectic, and completely a blast to browse through seven days a week. Give Brad a call at 936/205-3117 or visit him at thefortneyhouse.com.
1,654th in a series. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a weekly travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.
