Pilgrim House on the Bluff delights both antique hunters and nature lovers

At the Pilgrim House on the Bluff, customers tend to come for the wide variety of items for sale, but they stay for the stunning view.
Cynda Zeigler says it’s one of the biggest draws to her store, nestled inside her home in Shawnee, KS – a cozy house built in 2000 that sits 100 feet above the Colorado River Valley. As for the store itself, Ziegler says she’s proud to be an antiques dealer for four decades.

“My dad had furniture stores in Kansas City, and he had two of them named Pilgrim House. And so when he closed the store down, I took his name, and I’ve had it for 40 years,” Zeigler says.

Recently, though she has enjoyed selling handmade clothing and jewelry, she says that she intends to place more of a focus on buying and selling antiques, both from North America and Europe.

“In the beginning, we started out in oak furniture, and my husband would refinish everything. But now everything that I buy is 100 to 200 years old, and it’s got original paint and original surfaces,” Zeigler says. “And so I don’t change anything or touch anything. I want it all original. I’m kind of a purist.”

At the Pilgrim House on the Bluff, customers tend to come for the wide variety of items for sale, but they stay for the stunning view.
Cynda Zeigler says it’s one of the biggest draws to her store, nestled inside her home in Shawnee, KS – a cozy house built in 2000 that sits 100 feet above the Kaw River Valley. As for the store itself, Zeigler says she’s proud to be an antiques dealer for four decades.

“My dad had furniture stores in Kansas City, and he had two of them named Pilgrim House. And so when he closed the store down, I took his name, and I’ve had it for 40 years,” Zeigler says.

Recently, though she has enjoyed selling handmade clothing and jewelry, she says that she intends to place more of a focus on buying and selling antiques, both from North America and Europe.

“In the beginning, we started out in oak furniture, and my husband would refinish everything. But now everything that I buy is 100 to 200 years old, and it’s got original paint and original surfaces,” Zeigler says. “And so I don’t change anything or touch anything. I want it all original. I’m kind of a purist.”

Zeigler refers to her antique hunting trips around the country as ‘sourcing’ – and soon she and her sister will cross an ocean in search of the perfect items when they visit France in the spring.

“You can still find primitive antiques in Europe. But I think that they’re just older and they’re earlier,” Zeigler says.

Here at home, Zeigler says she never grows tired of the compliments she receives not only on her diverse offering of items, but on her house as well.