Inside a church building dating to 1853, Hen Picked Antiques and Stained Glass fills the historic sanctuary at 108 Branch Street in Hartford, Wisconsin with antiques, collectibles, giftware, and gently used home and garden decor, alongside a specialty most general antique shops cannot match: a genuine stained glass supply and repair operation built around what the shop describes as one of the largest collections of Chicago Art Glass currently available, more than 400 pieces in total. That inventory includes rare prairie lustre glass that has not been manufactured in over fifteen years, made using original Tiffany formulas and previously used in high end stained glass installations around the world, giving serious stained glass artists and collectors a source for material that is effectively no longer being produced anywhere else.
Beyond selling finished antiques and glass, Hen Picked offers stained glass repair services and hands on classes for students who want to learn the craft themselves, positioning the Hartford shop as a working studio as much as a retail space. That combination, a place to buy an antique or a piece of decor in one part of the building and pick up supplies or take a class in stained glass work in another, is unusual among small town antique shops, most of which specialize purely in resale rather than in a craft and repair trade on top of it. The shop’s own framing captures that dual identity directly: customers can bring home an heirloom that has stood the test of time or find the inspiration and materials to create an original piece of art themselves.
Hen Picked Antiques and Stained Glass keeps a limited public schedule, open regular hours on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with other days available by appointment, a schedule well suited to the shop’s mix of retail browsing and more involved glass work that benefits from one on one time with the owner. Hartford, Wisconsin sits in Washington County in the southeastern part of the state, and the shop’s home in a former church gives it a distinctive presence on Branch Street that stands out from typical downtown storefronts, drawing in visitors curious about the building’s history even before they know what is inside. The business has also been recognized beyond its own local customer base, having received a ten thousand dollar Backing Small Business grant awarded through American Express in partnership with Main Street America, a program aimed at supporting small, community rooted businesses like this one.
Shoppers can reach the shop directly at 262-709-6198 or by email at henpickedantiques@gmail.com, and the shop maintains Facebook and Instagram accounts under the handle henpickedantiques for updates on new glass inventory, class schedules, and shop hours around the Saturday and by appointment structure. For anyone searching for antiques and gently used home decor paired with a genuine stained glass supply house and repair studio inside a nineteenth century Wisconsin church, Hen Picked Antiques and Stained Glass in Hartford is that rare combination in one historic building.
