Marin IJ - Lib at Large: Restoration Hardware founder’s new venture opens at historic Mill Valley Lumber

WHEN THE NEW owners of historic Mill Valley Lumber said they wanted to preserve the past while looking to the future, they pretty much described the business philosophy of Restoration Hardware founder Stephen Gordon, who became an entrepreneurial superstar by making old things new again.

Now the man who built a phenomenally successful career marketing modern versions of classic American period hardware and home furnishings has quietly launched his new venture, Guideboat Company, in the former lumber company’s cluster of rustic buildings, a redwood-shaded Mill Valley landmark for more than 120 years.