Save the Chair Place Community!

Hello friends, old and new!

We would like to invite you to be part of the Chair Place story.

The 117 year-old building has become an important fixture of the Virginia community. The Chair Place is truly one of the last places where you can experience the heritage of the Eastern Shore of Virginia in a unique and historic setting. Owner Bill Aeschliman welcomes everyone through the doors with open arms. 

However, your help is greatly needed.  Quite a bit of structural repair is required to save this irreplaceable piece of history. Without it, the doors will close for good. The community will lose a cherished meeting place, and the people who live there could lose their home. 

This is your opportunity to save the Chair Place!

Your support will help with the following:
- Replace the roof and repair crumbling chimney 
- Install safe, modern heating system and reduce woodstove heating.





More about this great cause:

The Chair Place is an historic general store, built in 1898, and located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The general store closed decades ago, and is now owned and operated by Bill Aeschliman. He uses the building as his home and his workshop, where he builds and repairs furniture. More importantly, the building has become a symbolic gathering place on the Eastern Shore for musicians, artisans, and friends. The community that has grown around the Chair Place is an invaluable example of an Eastern Shore landmark filled with colorful characters. Bill hosts a weekly jam night that has grown steadily for 15 years. He also hosts several free concerts each year. Bill opens the doors to anyone who wishes to visit, play music, reminisce about the old store, or share laughs and fellowship with friends, new and old.

If we don't act, the insurance company will soon drop the building due to the great need for repairs and upgrades, and the public will no longer be able to enjoy it. Insurance aside, these things are truly necessary for the wellbeing of the building, the people who gather to socialize and play music, and, ultimately, the people who live there.

Become a friend of the Chair Place, and let's reach this goal together!