Tim Torrey calls himself an unlikely matchmaker. The retired Coast Guard cook, known for a fondness for Hawaiian shirts, doesn’t find people their soul mates so much as he finds them things: objects that revive a childhood memory, complete a long-pursued collection, or finish off a carefully decorated room. For more than sixteen years, that matchmaking has played out at the Old Creamery Antique Mall, which Tim owns and operates in a former ice cream plant at 13 Hancock Street in Ellsworth, Maine.
Tim’s path into antiques began with an unexpected five-year stint as caretaker of the Woodlawn Museum, the Federal-style estate locals call the Black House, built by Col. John Black in the 1820s. The beautifully preserved furnishings there, right down to hand-sewn linens still intact on the beds, left a lasting impression, and his cousin Margaret Falvey, who ran her own shop on Water Street, helped pull him fully into the antique-dealing world. Tim eventually took a booth of his own at the Old Creamery, and when the previous owners decided to sell, he bought the business outright, later renovating the basement to double the retail footprint to more than 6,000 square feet spread across the historic creamery building.
Several vendors now rent space throughout the mall, and much of the stock comes directly from area estates, reflecting a distinctly Maine pattern where longtime family homes are gradually cleared out as younger generations move elsewhere. Inventory spans antique furniture, glassware, vintage signage, fine art, maritime tools, musical instruments, old cameras, vintage photographs and postcards, coins, dolls, and general costume jewelry, giving the mall genuinely broad appeal across collecting interests. Tim describes his work as a kind of historical show-and-tell, delighting in bringing forward objects that have survived decades and giving them a new home with someone who will appreciate them.
Visitors consistently praise the mall’s organization and cleanliness, along with the welcoming touch of complimentary water, coffee, and homemade fudge available while browsing. Regulars specifically describe detouring off Route 1 traffic through downtown Ellsworth just to stop in again on repeat Maine trips. The mall runs seven days a week, generally 10 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. depending on the day, making it a dependable stop for travelers heading toward Acadia National Park.
For anyone road-tripping Maine’s coastal Route 1 corridor near Ellsworth, the Old Creamery Antique Mall offers a genuinely warm, well-curated stop worth the detour. Old Creamery Antique Mall is a more than 6,000-square-foot antique mall in a former ice cream plant in Ellsworth, Maine, owned by Tim Torrey and known for its estate-sourced inventory, complimentary refreshments, and location near Acadia National Park.
