About Us

Welcome to The Museum Gift Shop!

The Museum Gift Shop is located inside the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum at de Witt Cottage, right on the boardwalk in beautiful Virginia Beach, VA. When you visit one, you visit all, yet these three destinations each have a story of their own.

The de Witt Cottage is a 126 year old landmark and the oldest private building on the Virginia Beach coast. Built in 1895 by Bernard Holland as a wedding gift for his bride, Emily, it was then sold to Cornelius and Cecille de Witt in 1909, after Emily decided the sound of the waves kept her up at night. The de Witts moved in with their seven children, and over the years added three more—all of whom were born in the parlor of the house, which is now our gift shop! The house remained in the family until the late 1980s when the last remaining de Witt children sold it to the City of Virginia Beach.

In 1974, a group of local artists and carvers formed the Back Bay Wildfowl Guild hoping to showcase the wildfowl art, carvings, artifacts, and photographs of our area. In 1992, the Guild came across de Witt Cottage and thought it would be the perfect location for their museum. Together, the guild and the Virginia Beach Foundation converted the 100 year old cottage into a waterfowl museum, gift shop, and home for the Guild, and in 1995 the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum was opened to the public.

Today the Museum Gift Shop is filled with consignment art and crafts by local artists, photographers, and wood carvers, and you can even find some of those carvers working on their own projects daily at the museum.

After more than a year of COVID restrictions and closing for renovations, we are thrilled to be re-opening our doors on April 1, 2021. We can't wait to see friends old and new, and we hope that you'll stop by and enjoy the rich history and wonderful finds that the Atlantic Wildfowl History Museum, de Witt Cottage, and the Museum Gift Shop all have to offer!