Eagle's Nest creates shopping adventure with 14,000-square-foot display of antiques, furniture display

The selection of merchandise at Eagle’s Nest Antiques & Home Decor in Columbia Falls is wide-ranging and takes many turns, just like the background of store owner Kevin Underdahl.

At various times in his working life, Underdahl has been a speech pathologist, teacher, developer, builder and business owner, and at one time was the No. 1 Realtor for U.S. sales with Coldwell Banker and No. 6 in the world with RE/MAX.

After his “retirement,” Underdahl and his wife, Judy, opened Eagle’s Nest in 2009.

A full accounting of the merchandise at the Eagle’s Nest would fill a long book. Underdahl can’t begin to guess how many items are displayed in the 14,000-square-foot showroom, but 100,000 probably wouldn’t be an overestimate, he said.

Many of the pieces are not just antique, but also hold historic interest, such as the bathtub that’s more than 120 years old from a bordello in Livingston and a group of oversized wooden stools salvaged from a resort near Glacier National Park. The stools feature different local animals carved into the backs.  

“It’s a learning experience every day,” said Jennifer Anderson, Underdahl’s daughter and store manager. “I really enjoy having people bringing in things that are old and were once a huge part of people’s lives, then finding out what it is.”

Genuinely one-of-a-kind items, such as a lamp featuring a mounted bejeweled deer head with antlers circling the lampshade, are also scattered throughout the store.

“We’ll have some things in here for a long time that I don’t think will ever sell, and then the next week they’re gone,” Underdahl said. “Everyone has something different they like, which makes it interesting.”

Anderson said even though much of what is sold is on consignment, that doesn’t mean that the Eagle’s Nest isn’t choosy about what it will display.

“It depends on how much we have in the store, but sometimes we have to be super picky,” she said. “It can’t be normal or run-of-the-mill. It has to be reasonably priced and in good condition.”

Eagle’s Nest also is now stocking a large selection of Fireside Lodge Furniture, a rustic line that can be ordered from a supplier in Minnesota. The pieces come in pine, cedar, hickory and barnwood.

Underdahl said he wanted to offer rustic furniture to provide a way to shop locally for complete furnishings for a house. Eagle’s Nest has a large selection in the store so shoppers can see the furniture firsthand, he said.

“When we wanted to get rustic furniture to fill our house, we had to buy from something like seven different places and then wait two or three months for different pieces,” he said. “No one had a whole catalog of rustic furniture. We were frustrated as we couldn’t get things that matched.”

Eagle’s Nest also offers two lines of unfinished furniture, including one made from Northwest alder, and works with a furniture maker to fill pieces made to order.

The hope is that expanded furniture lines will bring in more local shoppers. Tourists keep the store hopping during the summer months but then traffic slows down a bit the rest of the year. Though he likes being in Columbia Falls for a number of reasons, Underdahl said the city is not often a shopping destination for people from the rest of the valley.

The Eagle’s Nest building is a draw in itself, with its giant log beams inside and out. It was originally constructed as a business for Rustic Rail, a custom furniture contractor that moved on to build Cabela’s stores.

“He picked out the best logs he could find,” Underdahl said.  

Underdahl insulated and sealed the building as best he could to help lessen the dusting duties in the showroom, which could easily become a full-time job in the wrong situation.

Even with so many items to keep clean and organized, the Underdahls have created a clean, well-defined shopping experience. Antique furniture of every style is grouped according to type — chairs, end tables, dressers etc. — making for easy comparison among the pieces. Jewelry, books, collectibles, kitchen items and the rest of the antique-store mainstays have dedicated locations within the giant space.

There are also rooms that encompass certain themes. The Montana Room is full of chainsaw-carved bears (Underdahl said the business probably sells 40 a week during the summer), huckleberry gifts, books and other Montana-made souvenirs.

There is also a tool room featuring old-style tools that are both utilitarian and decorative, and a second story with the walls lined with antique framed artwork and a children’s area that looks like a playroom from decades past.

Though Underdahl has a 6-year-old granddaughter who spends time in the store, he says she isn’t that interested in the toy area. She is more of a worker, he said, cleaning and greeting customers, and even at her young age is a representative of the three generations who help out in the store. Anderson’s other three children all contribute to the business in one way or another.

 The variety of customers, and especially meeting people from around the world, makes working in the store a different experience every day, Anderson said. The one drawback is that tourists can’t always buy what they’d like.  

“The biggest thing I hear from people coming through is, ‘Wow, I wish I had brought a trailer,’” Anderson said.

Business reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.