From tasty cooking to tasteful home goods
Karen Goldberg has had her fingers in a lot of pies over the 28 years she's lived in Mill Valley, including her popular Mill Valley pizza parlor, Tamalpie. Now, in a departure from her eatery history, she's launched the Warehouse, a 2,000-square-foot curated home consignment store, just across the street.
Goldberg had developed a number of Marin businesses, including Annabelle's restaurant in Mill Valley and Café Fresco in Corte Madera, before real estate caught her eye and became her passion.
“I built and remodeled about 10 or so homes in Marin, but in 2008, I lost it all and began helping others with interior design and retail design,” she says.
In 2011, however, she went back to her roots and opened Tamalpie on Miller Avenue, later building and selling BonBon and Playa in Mill Valley, and Moseley's in Corte Madera, which she closed after the pandemic hit.
When she noticed that the space at 444 Miller was available for lease, she naturally thought it would make a good restaurant. Or would it?
“After closing Moseley's, I was scared to lose it again,” she says.
Besides, she had become restless after closing the restaurant, and found herself “reworking each room constantly in my very-small cottage,” she says. “I did the same for my two sisters and anyone who asked. I love creating beautiful spaces for people.”
Her love of design, repurposing and the fine craftsmanship and details found in well-made vintage pieces made opening a home consignment shop just “a natural expansion of my passions,” she says.
Add to that supply chain issues and a growing consciousness of how purchases can affect the planet, and offering nice home furnishings for a new generation of owners made good sense to her.
Goldberg, a fan of home consignment shopping herself, has shopped “at all the amazing consignment stores from Tivoli Decor in Sausalito to the Living
Room in Mill Valley and the Home Consignment Center in San Rafael,” she says. “My days are always fun, filled with amazing stories about items and the homes they came from. I have connected with so many people in this process and it's been very rewarding.”
She had a different model in mind for the Warehouse, though, and thought she could improve the experience for those who get overwhelmed. So she arranged the space into vignettes to make it easier to visualize items in a home setting.
The selection of items is different, too, “simply because of our selection,” she says, noting that she's highly selective of what she chooses for her store.
“Each piece is handpicked and one thing is better than the next. The oohs and ahhs are fun to hear.”
There is furniture, lighting, rugs, accessories and some unexpected pieces, such as a pinball machine. Prices range from $19 to $9,000.
There is also art. She has Robert Stivers photographs and a collection of signed Hans Otto Boehm paintings that had been in a private collection in Tiburon.
“We want to use crystal and silver everyday and weave it into our lives,” she says. “We want to bring beautiful signed art into being accessible. We have everything from vintage Restoration Hardware to Design Within Reach. We have quality, period. It's all quality.”
The Warehouse is different from most consignment stores in another way, too.
“For the most part, if I like it, I'll buy it outright so sellers don't have to wait for it to sell to get paid,” she says. “We do consign on some items that we feel could take a while to sell, and share the sale 50-50.”
She says she knows right away if an item is right for the store. They have soul, quality and are special. All pieces “must be clean, clean, clean,” although the natural patina that accompanies age is expected.
Sellers may send a photo and details of their items to info@thewarehousemillvalley.com for consideration.
The Warehouse is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays at 444 Miller Ave. in Mill Valley. Call 415-8882757 or go to thewarehousemillvalley.com.
Show off
If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I'd love to know about it.
Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it, and a photograph or two. I will post the very best ones in upcoming columns. Your name will be published and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.
Don't-miss event
• April showers bring April flowers, along with succulents, annuals, perennials, vegetables, shrubs, trees and seeds at Novato Garden Club's Annual Spring Bloom Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 23 at 7 Estates Drive and 6 Equestrian Court in Novato. Go to novatogardenclub.org.