Restoration Hardware has been rebranded as RH and has just launched their Boston flagship store in an 1863 neoclassical building. The red brick and brownstone building by architect William Gibbons Preston, was originally the Museum of Natural History.
The 40,000 square foot RH Design Gallery has 4 floors and includes a florist and a Baby & Child collection, expanding from home goods to a full-scale lifestyle brand. There’s a wine bar, a pub serving beer from a century old bar. club rooms, a billiard lounge, a cinema room with classic movies, a library with vintage books, more than 150 chandeliers, and a Paris-themed conservatory and park with outdoor furniture displays with a 24 foot replica of the Eiffel Tower.
I could go on and on, but instead here’s Curbed’s 14 crazy things about the store. Also see Architectural Digest’s article about the store by Raul Barreneche.
Gary Friedman, formerly CEO and now chairman emeritus after an internal dust-up last year, (but that’s another story) first saw the building 20 years ago when he was an executive at Williams-Sonoma (eventually becoming chief operating officer) and thought it would be grand to have a store in such a fabulous building. Mr. Friedman joined Restoration Hardware in 2001. His ideal location came on the market two years ago. Renovation took over a year using old photographs and architectural renderings. Mezzanines and elevator banks were removed and the atrium was opened to restore views to the 70 foot high coffered, gilded ceiling. A recreation of an 1892 traction and counterweight glass elevator transports customers through the space.
Although a grand space, the museum-scaled rooms presented challenges for creating display vignettes. RH plans to open stores in other historic buildings across the country. I hope they come here because we have lots of historic buildings and my local RH doesn’t look a thing like this Boston store!
– Lorre Lei
P.S.-I did a guest blog post for Corinne Gail Interior Design if you would like to view it.
Also, visit Casart Coverings repositionable Architectural Wallcovering for similar interior displays to Restoration Hardware.
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