We look forward to hearing from you!
129 Miller Avenue
Mill Valley, CA
While Restoration Hardware founder Stephen Gordon retired from the Corte Madera-based retailer nearly a decade ago to become CEO of Sundance, he wasn’t ready to leave the merchandising business altogether.
Now, in partnership with YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Gordon is using his specialty retail background to build and sell specialty boats, among other things.
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.
The new owners of the 120-year-old Mill Valley Lumber company have learned: If the gates are open, customers come in.
Mill Valley residents Matt and Jan Mathews closed on the property last week and hope to continue the lumber and hardware use of the business. To the relief of many in town, the couple has no plans for building condos on the site.
“We’ve met with the planning department and talked with them. We definitely don’t want to tear anything down and turn it into condos,” Jan Matthews said.