The Misty Oak Bookstore

The Misty Oak sits in one of the oldest buildings in Beaver Creek in the old downtown area.
It was renovated in the late 1970's to become a bookstore, and now sells used textbooks to students as well as offering what is characterized as "New Age" books, antique books, herbal remedies, and local minerals such as quartz crystals, iron pyrite, geodes, agates and jasper. There are the local tourist favorites as well, including some simple jewelry featuring the local "purple" gold.

Design

Two stories of book space. On the main floor, the old bar from the original saloon was moved to the front and now serves as the payment counter, or the semi-official working desk of the owner. The front section tends to be more for the tourists and a portion of that is the "New Age" books, beads, cards, herbs, crystals, etc. The middle section has the tall, wooden bookshelves filled with used textbooks, subjects, and popular fiction. The back is walled off as a separate room and has a locked door where special order antique and rare books are kept.
A person facing the rear of the store would see stairs on the right, leading up to the second floor where more books are located. To the left by the rear room leads a narrow hallway to the back extension of the building. The hallway continues to the exit door to the back alley, but along the way are doors to a very small bathroom and then the back office. The back office is about as large as the special books room, and also has a staircase which goes up to a very small studio apartment over the office.
A root and wine cellar (and, for a time, speakeasy) lies under the building. Its entrance is a well-hidden door located in the special books room, which utilizes a spiral staircase down into it. The basement is about as large as the store itself.

Entries

A wide entrance in the front is flanked equally with large storefront windows. There is a narrow hall that leads to a door out back.

Sensory & Appearance

The smell of wood and books are everywhere, often mixed with cedar oil, burning sage or incense sticks. Every step makes the wood creek. The basement smells more earthy and damp, and its walls are old red brick.
It feels warm and inviting to those seeking shelter. But many of the kids from the mainstream college campus hardly know it's even there. A few who do report feeling "creeped out" even going near it. And those with hostile intentions towards its inhabitants definitely avoid the place and become visibly upset, angry, or frightened by it and will leave as soon as possible if finding themselves inside.

Valuables

There is a special room in the back which connects to the main floor where the antique and rare books are kept. The jewelry at the front for tourists is made out of the local "purple gold" and semi-precious gemstones.

History

The original building was built as a saloon in the mid-to-late Nineteenth Century by Constance McFarlane, a widow of a local prospector. It was one of the first five buildings built in the new settlement of Beaver Creek. According to local legend, the bar was made by McFarlane after she hauled the wood by herself from a huge tree that had been struck by lighting. Several renovations, extensions and additions later, and after several owners and re-purposing, that bar top has remained.

Founding Date

1872

Owner

Linda