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Rachel Nichols didn't expect this.

The Apple Barn Gallery in Buchanan, which she and her husband Alfred Nichols opened in April 1995, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

But they hadn't planned it this way.

The Troutville couple tried to become P. Buckley Moss artwork dealers at the first of their five stores -- the Apple Barn in Troutville. But the location was too close to a dealer in downtown Roanoke, so the Moss Portfolio, which grants dealership authorization, denied the request.

Instead they found what they considered an ideal location in Buchanan where they could sell P. Buckley Moss' artwork, and they rented the place for three months before offering to buy it. But the owner would only sell the building they wanted with an adjacent one, so they got both.

It is in this location on Main Street that the Nicholses run The Apple Barn Gallery -- the only authorized P. Buckley Moss dealer in Botetourt County. They also own The Olde Country Store next door and an indoor passageway connects the two shops. Both are located across from the Buchanan Theatre.

"I've never regretted coming to Buchanan," Rachel Nichols said. She was intent on selling the artwork because she said it was one of three hot collectibles at the time, the other two being Cat's Meow pieces and Longaberger baskets.

Lexington resident Doug Bartlett, who has been the head lacrosse coach at Virginia Military Institute for more than 20 years, likes to drop in the gallery occasionally. He stopped by on a recent day before kayaking the James River.

"This is a wonderful, quaint little town and I'm an old school person who loves quaint little towns," he said.

Bartlett picked up a print of the July 4 balloon festival near the barracks at VMI that he had put on layaway. He has a friend who will take the print to the P. Buckley Moss' National Convention this weekend at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, where Pat Moss will sign it.

Nichols raves about Moss, who came through Buchanan "like a cyclone" in May. At that time the gallery attendants had Moss sign all the framed prints in the store.

"She does pop in here quite often and we never know when she's coming," said Nichols, who has P. Buckley Moss' artwork in every room of her house. Her grandchildren once counted seven pictures in a single room.

According to www.pbuckleymoss.com, Moss was born in New York City in 1933. In grade school, she was perceived as a poor student, a circumstance likely caused by dyslexia. One of Moss's teachers realized her artistic talents, however, and helped convince Moss's mother to enroll her in a public school for girls in downtown Manhattan, the Washington Irving High School for the Fine Arts. It was there that Moss's artistic abilities were encouraged and nourished.

She continued her education at New York's Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, her biography notes, and she married Jack Moss, a chemical engineer. In 1964, Jack Moss' work took the family of five children -- with a sixth on the way -- to Waynesboro. It was here that Pat Moss came to appreciate the quiet beauty of rural scenery and to know the Amish and Mennonite people. Soon she was incorporating these new elements into her art and she is now recognized for it.

Moss came for a signing in August at Apple Barn Gallery. She started signing fans' prints at 6 p.m. and so many people turned out that she scribed her name into the wee hours, Nichols said. Nichols, Moss, their spouses and others went down the street to the old Main Street Diner, which has since closed, for breakfast around 2 a.m.

"We had the greatest time," Moss said of her first visit to the Apple Barn Gallery. "It was just really fun."

The Nichols, who also own Apple Barn II and Cackleberry Ridge in Troutville, come to their Buchanan stores every night and do behind-the-scenes work such as shrink-wrapping Moss prints on acid-free, foam board to prepare them for sale.

"It would be easier if it were in Troutville, but Pat's art is all together in one store," Rachel Nichols said.

The Apple Barn Gallery is located at 19781 Main St. in Buchanan. 254-6677.