Tommy Lee Jones walked into Detelich Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif., looking for a desk for his Texas ranch.

Store owner Jim Detelich, a Hermitage native, showed the actor several pieces, staying clear of the most expensive ones.

You don't want to show the expensive items right off because customers will think you're trying to rip them off, Detelich said.

But Jones quickly settled on a high-end model that went for $5,800.

"I have people who spend as much money as the stars, but they'll spend it in a year," Detelich said. "The stars will spend it all in one shot."

Hobnobbbing with Hollywood stars, movie industry bigwigs and famous singers is all in a day's work for Detelich and his wife, Denise Vuich Detelich.

The couple, who are chiropractors, left the Shenango Valley nearly four years ago to open the gallery near the Promenade, a swanky section of Santa Monica.

Detelich, who still owns the building of his former chiropractic clinic in Hermitage, said he was looking for something different when he heard California's sun, surf and smoking-free restaurants calling.

"I was tired of the winters," he said. "I had always considered myself a big fish in a small pond and decided to see if I could be a big fish in a big pond.

Detelich quit his chiropractic practice but had mixed emotions about switching careers.

"I quit but I didn't want to quit," he said. "It was an opportunity to do something different."

The 1965 Hickory High graduate said the opportunity came when his son, Brent, entered the practice.

"He was working real hard and I was just coasting."

The antique furniture business was a hobby turned sideline before Detelich made it his career. He started collecting Tiffany and Handel lamps in 1977, and outfitted the basement of his Brookfield home in antiques.

"Everybody I bought from, four or five years later started calling me wanting to buy them back because they had increased in value," said Detelich, who is writing a book on Handel lamps.

The gallery sells furniture and lamps from the Arts and Crafts or Mission period, dating primarily from 1900-1925. It specializes in Tiffany lamps, famous for its painted scenes, and Handel lamps, a cheaper version of Tiffany.

It also sells furniture by makers such as Gustav Stickley, Roycroft, L&JG Stickley, Limbert, Stickley Brothers, JM Young and Shop of the Crafters. The furniture is noted for its simple design.

"The furniture we are dealing with was supposed to be for the common man, but it was pretty expensive for the time," Detelich said. "But it was built to last."

The furniture has caught the imagination of stars such as Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Joni Mitchell, Dennis Quaid, Stephen Spielberg, Jakob Dylan and Don Henley, all of whom have bought from or browsed in the store.

Ms. Detelich, a Farrell native, and the gallery were mentioned in a Movieline magazine story in August 1999 on Hollywood's growing fascination with antique furniture, and how that interest is driving up prices.

"That was a very good article for us," Detelich said. "We got calls from New York, Washington, a guy from France called us, lots of calls from around here, and Laura Dern and Tommy Lee Jones came in right after it."

Detelich said he generally doesn't know the stars when they come in -- his wife leaves him notes telling him who they are -- and that probably contributes to the referrals they give to their friends.

"As funny as it seems, they don't want a lot of publicity," he said. "They kind of like it when I don't recognize them."

In return, the Deteliches are starting to get invited to Hollywood functions. Through actor Ving Rhames, who has bought from the gallery and been treated by Ms. Detelich, they attended the premiere and after-party for "Mission Impossible 2." A VH-1 executive has invited them to other premieres.

"I appreciate the business and the little perks we get," he said.

Ms. Detelich admitted she was excited when Francis Ford Coppola and Angelica Huston came into the store together, but is generally not starstruck.

"There are a lot of people who come in who are so regular," she said. "They're like you and me and want to be treated like you and me."

Santa Monica has a small-town feel and residents look out for each other.

"People shop locally," Detelich said. "They want you to succeed and they want to help you succeed."

The Deteliches still have strong business ties in the Shenango Valley to go along with family ones. A Sharon man who asked not to be named buys for them and Detelich comes back to the area to pick up the pieces. "I drive back every couple months," he said. "I fill a 25-foot Penske truck that I drive back." Paula Hunt of Sharon repairs pottery for the Deteliches and has worked on pieces for Steven Spielberg. "His kids are pretty rambunctious," Detelich said. "These are $15,000 pieces." Ms. Detelich, a 1980 Farrell High grad, still is a practicing chiropractor and has treated William Shatner and Val Kilmer. She also has worked on the sets of the television shows "VIP" and "Providence" and movies. It's an excellent opportunity to hand out gallery business cards.

Despite the high-profile clientele, the gallery is a pretty low-key way to make a living.

"All I do now is sit here and wait for people to bring me money," Detelich quipped.

Detelich's sons, Brent, who is still a chiropractor, and Blair, a massage therapist, are now living in California, and Blair will run a store of reproduction Mission furniture and Tiffany lamps they plan to open soon. Although Detelich misses his handball buddies in the Shenango Valley, he doesn't regret the move west. He has made new handball friends, roller blades 14 to 28 miles a day -- on a recent excursion he passed Julia Roberts, Calista Flockhart and Dennis Hopper on a walking path -- and plans to learn surfing from Guy Paul, a pal from Hermitage. "I love it out here," Detelich said. "The people are great. You miss the valley and the people, but it's a different world. You can't beat the weather."

The Pacific Ocean is part of what makes it a different world, he said.

"It changes your outlook. You look out and see the dolphins and the pelicans and you just can't help but be happy."