Carol and Tony Boyd-Heron: An artful journey abroad and home again

Carol and Tony Boyd-Heron never really tried to map out the journey that would lead to their destiny. Looking back, however, they both remember the landmark moment that put them on track. It happened when they encountered a certain painting on a visit to an art gallery in San Antonio, Texas, in 1997. It was a rural, hilly landscape at twilight, centered by a roadway that dipped and disappeared beyond a distant curve that obscured its path toward the horizon.

Tony, who served 26 years in the British Army, saw the piece as reminiscent of the Scottish countryside. Carol loved its dreamy, transporting quality. Despite its impact, they decided the time wasn't quite right to acquire it.

“The painting cost more than the entire framing business we had just bought on Savannah Road," Carol remembers. "But shortly after we got back, the space next door opened up. We started doing really well, and couldn't stop thinking about this painting and how it made us feel."

With a phone call, they finally did secure the painting, by artist Tania Dibbs. While they intended to hang it in their Milton home, which was also a bed and breakfast, they decided to keep it at the gallery temporarily while their kitchen was being renovated.

“People were amazed at this painting,” Carol says. “After telling customers again and again that it wasn’t for sale we realized a great opportunity to leverage peoples' affinity for this artist and give our business a real boost.”

With a second call to Tania, they ordered 30 more paintings - and sold half within a few weeks.

That was the first major step to the success of Peninsula Gallery, set midway between downtown Lewes and the Delaware Bay. The gallery and the bed and breakfast were both operated from a hospitality-driven perspective.

"There were so many similarities to the experiences we created," Carol says. "People come to a B & B to enjoy a beautiful old home and to feel like they're a guest there. They want to create a memory. People come to a gallery hoping to discover something that moves them on an emotional level - to make a purchase that is also the stuff of memory."

Over the years the Peninsula Gallery became Lewes’ premier showplace for artwork, the focal point of a life encompassing deep roots in the business and cultural community and Tony and Carol's extensive circle of friends.

And then, everything changed.

"We were at an interesting place by the time 2012 rolled around," Carol says. "I was turning 50 and having a minor mid-life crisis. Some people might have had affairs; some might have bought a sports car. I decided I wanted a new country.

"There was a second inspiration as well. Tony is the only grandfather to a constellation of wonderful kids who were living in England. The way they all interacted was so lovely, but I wanted them to have more time together. Tony's so youthful now - they needed to form their own memories while he was still healthy and happy and sassy, and while the children were still impressionable."

"They also loved Carol, by the way," Tony interjects.

"Yes, I suppose. I've always been the party game at the dinner table, with my American accent - so different from Tony's British accent, which people over here love so much. Over there, to his family, I sound like Hollywood."

Those dinner table conversations became much more frequent when the Boyd-Herons made what was meant to be a life-changing move by selling the Peninsula Gallery and moving to a small town in England. There were many things they loved - such as the town's Georgian architecture and the vast, unspoiled countryside that surrounded it.

"I was romantically fascinated by the ancientness of it all," Carol remembers. "I'll never forget the first time I went to a castle, even though it was in ruins."

"We joined the National Trust, which gave us the chance to see so many gardens and homes," Tony adds. " We even went to High Clere Castle, where Downton Abbey is shot - and saw it lit up at night . . . and had the chance to touch the Avebury Stones, something you can't do at Stonehenge."

Some of the greatest experiences came from the original intent of the move - time with grandchildren, trips to other European cities, long bike rides through the countryside, and orchestra recitals played in by the oldest granddaughter, who will begin college this fall.

Unfortunately, there were challenges as well. "We didn't realize this when we moved, but most of the residents of our small town had been there for generations, and had grown into their own social circles," Tony says. "We didn't have children of our own, or a dog, or even a business that would have helped us forge social bonds. This was difficult for us because we're people who cherish friendships."

It also became more difficult to spend time with the grandchildren, whose days became jam-packed with school and extra-curricular activities.

And then there were the other realizations, drawing them back toward the past and the place where they had made so many wonderful memories.

"I hadn't realized how important the element of water is to me as a person," Carol says. "I had always loved being able to look up from my work at the gallery toward the view of the marshlands on the opposite side of Savannah Road."

"We also missed the sense of community we had here in Lewes," Tony says. "Both our gallery and our B&B gave us the opportunity to develop rewarding relationships. In Milton our home and business were one and the same, and it was always open for chamber of commerce events and garden tours. Guests came back to us year after year because of the experience. We realized how much we liked the 'village' aspect of being in business."

With that in mind, they embarked on the most recent leg of their recent journey, moving back to Lewes.

"Having a three-year break as business owners was good for us, and we certainly didn't think we wanted to own one again," Carol says. "But then the universe started making things happen . . ."

Those things included a random conversation where Tony learned that the current owner of Peninsula was considering the possibility of moving on.

"We spoke to BJ, who we'd sold to, and asked if it was true. We weren't sure we'd be able to afford it or if we had the energy to run it, but once the pieces fell into place it was like putting on a comfortable old pair of shoes - and coming back to our old home. The universe made it happen."

Since regaining ownership of Peninsula on New Year's Day, 2016, Tony and Carol remain dedicated to the principles that fueled their success and comaraderie with the community, showing many artists with Delmarva roots along with others who have continued to be in high demand.

They're also happily renewing old friendships, and enjoying the satisfaction of going to neighboring homes and seeing so many artworks purchased at the gallery. Yet one of their favorite pieces is still the work by Tania Dibbs that began the journey to that gallery and back again.

"It's hanging in our dining room, and appropriately titled 'The Road to the Future,'" Carol says. "We consider it the road to our future as owners of a successful gallery, and to the journey that brought us home again."

Novelist Chris Beakey writes from his home in Lewes. Go to www.chrisbeakey.com to learn more.