AMY MATZKE-FAWCETT The Roanoke Times

Charles Noblin discusses a cabinet that will be on display at the Beaux Arts Galleria in Blacksburg.

| Amy Matzke-Fawcett

amy.matzke-fawcett@roanoke.com, 381-1674

BLACKSBURG -- After two years of preparation, the Beaux Arts Galleria is scheduled to open Friday.

The galleria, housed in the former Masonic Lodge on Roanoke Street, will sell art, home decor, antiques and furnishings. It is owned by Samir Fayez and Awatif Aoun.

What's now the collection within the gallery started as a hobby for the Saudi Arabian couple more than 25 years ago.

While traveling around the world as a business consultant, Fayez came across items he liked, especially copper and glass pieces. He would buy them and send them back to their home in Saudi Arabia, and eventually collected more than 1,700 pieces, he said.

"One thing leads to another, the house was cluttered, and we opened our own shop back home," he said.

They then moved to Blacksburg in 2000 to be closer to their children, who were attending Virginia Tech.

After retiring and moving to Blacksburg, the pair became bored and again wanted to work in a store.

"We didn't want to sit and watch the time pass," Fayez said.

It hasn't been all excitement, however.

The 1927 building had to be reinforced and redone, including the installation of an elevator and a new heating system, and the removal of asbestos. They bought the building for $600,000 and have spent about $2.2 million remodeling it, Fayez said.

"It's really a joy now," Fayez said. "It's almost like working in a museum."

There were customs inspections and shipping laws to learn, said warehouse manager Alice Noblin. And when items finally arrived, it wasn't always clear which box contained a certain piece.

"It's like Christmas every time you open a box," said Charles Noblin, product and identification researcher for the gallery and husband of Alice Noblin.

His job entails researching items in the Galleria's inventory to find out their history and value, and helps to catalogue them.

Then there was a flood in the warehouse in May. Rains that caused problems for much of Christiansburg also came in ankle-deep in the 10,000-square-foot warehouse, Alice Noblin said.

The store currently has 11 employees, including the Noblins. It will be open to the public, but Fayez said he expects to do a lot of online business to collectors and decorators outside the area as well.

"I'm delighted that Beaux Arts Galleria chose to open in downtown Blacksburg, locating in a beautiful building with a rich history," wrote Blacksburg Town Councilwoman Susan Anderson in an e-mail Tuesday.

Anderson wrote that "Blacksburg is becoming an arts destination," naming art galleries including Armory Art Gallery, the Community Arts Information Office, Art Pannonia, Matrix Gallery, the Experimental Gallery for Creative Technologies, Virginia Tech's Theater 101 and the planned Shultz Hall performance arts center.