After twenty years of successful shopkeeping up the street, in an increasingly

cramped emporium of lovely and quirky finds, Astier Villatte and local ceramics,

vintage gilded French furniture, pretty tableware, bedding and baskets…

SummerHouse owners Robert and Jane have launched a voluminous new

shop a few doors down. Spare, lofty, flooded with light from the great

skylights that saw the clouds scuttling across the March sky…

the shop features cement tables, painted cabinets, vintage chairs and

ottomans, primitive ladders, one of a kind ceramics and art pieces, and

a venue to expand upon their great eye for unique and beautiful design.

One of the first vignettes that caught my eye was this enormous Buffalo print

on vintage sailor cloth by a contemporary Brazilian artist. The spare wood

cabinet and stone topped table are juxtaposed with a dangling

filament in it’s rough wire basket. The enormous spool of yarn is

suggestive of hand loomed artistry…

Incredible hand-colored copperplate etching of Paris

set in gleaming wide bird’s eye maple frame….

Chicken feeder pendant lamps poised above

the angular cement table…

Love this mix of materials, textures, tones…

glossy warmth, rough and variegated concrete,

bleached woven wicker, hand honed wood chairs…

Astier de Villatte candles and stacks

of antique German grains sacks

A patched and faint aqua stenciled sack

on a vintage gilded French caned chair…

More faint blue etching and stripes…

the blue adding a feminine touch to the coarse bag…

Bare woods play alongside painted wood…

Cool little metal lights dangle in the top of  the cabinet..

alighting the door fronts and glass pitchers inside

Close up of the distressed aqua paint finish behind

the scintillating glass pitcher…

Several unframed oil paintings were

placed on the almost bare walls…

The human touch throughout

the store…

Another curio cabinet…

Lots of aqua, color, and handmade items…

Row upon row of John Derian decoupage plates

and paperweights…

Exclusive to SummerHouse

British ceramics designer Anna Lambert

Perfect touch of prettiness…

c. 1920 Mexican watercolors

Incredible selection…veritable rug bazaar

of  Turkish Oushak rugs from the ’20’s and ’30’s…

Antique Chinese elm bench covered with an

antique Afghanistan crewelwork textile….

Store also carries Color Reform rugs…currently sold out…

Ensconced in their window seat at the front of the store,

handmade dolls from a local artist cozy up to a range of

Madeline Weinrib’s gloriously patterned pillows

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SummerHouse @ 57

57 Throckmorton

Mill Valley, California 94941

Phone 415 383-0157

summerhousemv@earthlink.net

SummerHouse57 blog here…brand new…drop them a note!