Tampa antique shop adds massive nautical collection to unique inventory

TAMPA, Fla. - Thousands of corals, hundreds of sea sponges, ships anchors of all shapes and sizes now occupy every free space in Schiller's Architectural and Design Salvage business on Rome Avenue.

Normally, owner Larry Schiller purchases and refurbishes unique architectural products and building materials.

You want a special door frame? He's got that. 

A unique window that can light up a whole room? He has that too.

If you want a brick walkway that looks like the streets of Ybor City; yep, he's got that covered too.

Sometimes, Schiller gets an opportunity to bring in something different.

That happened last year, and the unique inventory has taken a while to get cataloged and listed for sale.

A woman called him. Her husband was a collector of nautical things, and he had passed away. His collection was massive.

"We were concentrating on the yard in the beginning, and it was just overwhelming, things were just piled and piled and piled," said Schiller.

"Ship doors and ship hatches, buoys and bells and portholes and pulleys...it just kept coming out of the closets," recalled Schiller. "And it was just one weirder thing after another weirder thing."

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The challenge was twofold: what to offer for the collection and could he sell it.

"As I don't usually have this type of thing, I had to figure out what I was even buying, which was difficult," he admitted.

So now, next to the Steel works from his normal salvage work, he has shark's teeth. The arches share spaces with anchors. In the display cases next to intricate artwork and crafts, he has carved fossils and megalodon teeth.

So now the question is, do you want whale bones? He's got 'em. Huge clamshells? For sure! How about a cannon? Well, he has a couple, but you might have to fight one of our local Gasparilla Krewes for the chance to buy one.

Nothing gives a pirate the "street cred" like an authentic bronze cannon from a shipwreck.

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You can view the entire collection in person on Saturdays at Schiller's location on Cypress and Rome in the north Hyde Park area of Tampa.

You can call (813) 443-4641 and make an appointment on other days of the week.

Schillers Architectural and Design Salvage is located at 1002 N. Rome Avenue. For more information, click here.