A showcase for exquisite vintage
Jonathan Rachman believes in miracles. He calls the opening of his new Market Street shop, J.Rachman, a personal marvel.
“This store is like my baby, and the road to get here has been like my elephant pregnancy,” he laughs. “It’s been a dream of mine for so long that to see it finally coming to fruition is a birth of sorts — or perhaps I should call this a rebirth.”
Rachman, whose first entrepreneurial endeavor was opening a small flower stall on Sacramento Street in 2002, has morphed from floral designer to interior designer since he launched Jonathan Rachman Design in 2009. Now designing interior spaces for clients all over the world, from San Francisco and Chicago to London and Bali, Rachman traverses the globe many times a year, feeding his love of travel — and his passion for collecting.
“I jokingly call myself a hoarder, because I am obsessed with antiques and cannot pass by certain objects that speak to me without bringing them home,” he says. “I have been storing most of these things for years, with the hopes of one day being able to tell some sort of story with all of it. And now, I’m finally — finally! — getting to do that.”
For years, Rachman had his eye on one particular retail space. Tucked behind Zuni Cafe was an antique piano shop called La Salle, housed in a 1911 building that Rachman had grown to admire and love.
“I’ve been eating at Zuni Cafe for 26 years, and almost without exception, every time I would dine there, I’d look at this building with longing. It reminds me of when I lived in Paris — with its high ceilings, exposed beams, gorgeous old wooden floors and giant windows,” he says. “I used to imagine opening a shop here. I literally dreamed about it. And now, here I am. Miracles do happen.”
Rachman’s signature, in gold leaf, graces the large picture window, inside of which sit hundreds of his favorite treasures — from trays of exquisite vintage glassware and stacks of pristine, hand-painted china to rows of antique andirons. And all of it is for sale.
“I’ve designed everything from tiny rental apartments and penthouses to Pacific Heights mansions, and through it all I’ve enjoyed helping people figure out their personal style, whether modern or European or transitional or traditional,” he says. “But this store — it’s a showcase of my own aesthetic, my personal style. I’m unapologetically old school. Everything in here is old school. “San Francisco didn’t need another midcentury modern shop or a store full of reproductions,” he says. “I wanted to give San Francisco the kind of store you’d discover on a quiet street in Paris or London. A shop full of curiosities, where you can browse and touch things from centuries ago, and hear the stories behind them.”
Rachman saved the space’s original hardwood floors and stained them gray. He also kept the sheet music that had been wallpapered to the ceiling, between exposed beams, to honor his mother, a church pianist. He added a 22-foot-tall wall of builtins, painted Benjamin Moore’s Gray Timber Wolf, to showcase some of his collections, as well as his new line of fine leather goods he is launching in November.
“I am more than a little obsessed with fine leather,” he says. “I’ve been wanting to design leather goods since I was a teenager. My father always had a beautiful leather travel bag and briefcase, and I remember so clearly the way it was lined, the way it smelled. There was something so special about having a beautiful signature leather bag. So I thought I’d design a few of my own.”
His line includes messenger bags, weekender bags, totes, purses and clutches, all of which will be available at J.Rachman. And so will his new line of linens from Bolt. Inspired by all the strong women in his life who have helped him along the way, he named the line Sisters and designed it to reflect his love of the East and West. “It’s Left Bank meets Bali,” he says.
Rachman, who grew up on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and still spends part of every year in Bali, which he calls his second home, effortlessly pairs treasures from small fishing villages in Southeast Asia with old world curiosities from Europe. “I just want to show people that designs don’t have to be pristine and matchymatchy. It’s better, in my humble opinion, to not be contrived and formulaic, but to be personal. If it’s done right, you can do this in your own home. I hope people will come in, take a look around and be inspired — even if the only thing they take home with them is a good idea.”