Edinburgh antiques shop on the move after 30 years

Courtyard Antiques on Causewayside which is closing down as owner Lewis Rosa looks for a smaller shop premises. PIcture; Greg Macvean

But now Lewis Rosa and his emporium of assorted goods are going on the move – and he needs your help to make it happen.

The 63-year-old owner of Courtyard Antiques has revealed he wants to move to a new site in the Capital – preferably one with a window.

However, Mr Rosa said he has built up so much stock over the years that he simply can’t move it all and is now appealing for buyers to help take some off his hands.

And customers won’t be spoiled for choice, with the quirky outlet piled to the rafters with everything from vintage motorbikes and militaria to Victorian display cabinets and finely-crafted pond yachts.

“My ambition is to have a building with a window,” Mr Rosa explained.

“People have said to me we have been up and down this street a dozen times and we never even knew your shop existed.

“I have a massive sign with a train on it and we have a website and stuff but it just doesn’t seem to work. I don’t think anything works better than a window on the main street.”

Since opening in 1988 Mr Rosa has hosted customers from all walks of life, even welcoming Copacabana singer Barry Manilow over the threshold.

“He was looking for a Mah Jong set but I didn’t have one,” he recalled.

Other household names who can be counted among Courtyard Antiques’ clientele include folk singer John Denver, pianist and television personality Jools Holland and Richard O’Brien of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Mr Rosa said he travels all over the country picking up goods, with the thrill of a new find still as good as ever.

“I’m a compulsive buyer,” he admitted. “The things I like the best are models – live steam trains and militaria are perhaps the two things I like the best.”

But it’s not just individuals who buy his goods, with Mr Rosa’s two-storey shop having become the go-to business when it comes to sourcing props for TV and film.

His antiques have graced both the small and big screen, appearing in everything from television series Outlander and Monarch of the Glen to blockbuster hits such as Cloud Atlas and World War Z.

He said: “For World War Z they took a whole load of china and a bicycle.

“They put all the china in a shop window and drove a lorry through it. They phoned me up to ask if I wanted to take back all the stuff that wasn’t broken. I didn’t – I was quite glad to be rid of it!”

Mr Rosa is aiming to move out of his current premises in February. He is still deciding on location, but currently has his sights set on Stockbridge.

He said he is particularly keen to shift some of his larger items which would be difficult to transport to the new home.

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