We recently toured the new, light-flooded Henrybuilt studio in Mill Valley, California, located in a former auto repair shop not far from Remodelista’s West Coast headquarters. The company’s clients include Google and the French Laundry, and they’ve got ongoing projects all over the Bay Area (Lake Tahoe, Russian Hill, Silicon Valley), so it makes sense for them to open a local office. We reached out to founder Scott Hudson to find out more.
Above: The 4,000-square-foot space, a former garage, has whitewashed walls. The original concrete floors were cleaned up and polished but otherwise left untouched (cracks included). Factory windows allow ample sunlight to flood the space.
Remodelista: Why Mill Valley? We have to ask since we launched Remodelista right down the street from the Henrybuilt showroom.
Scott Hudson: The town is an unusual combination of sophisticated and down to earth, located in the middle of an amazing swath of landscape. It’s not a shopping destination, which was something we wanted to stay away from, and it’s relatively easy to get to from much of the Bay Area, including Sonoma and Napa.
RM: Who is the Henrybuilt client?
SH: We work with a wide range of people, of course, but they are all serious about really living well in their homes. Some might guess that we work with a lot of people who have their homes done for them, who leave for six months and come back to a house fully set up with dinner on the table when they walk in, but that’s not the case. Our clients are very involved in creating the place they are going to live in. Their taste tends to be oriented toward creating a natural ease, regardless of the style of their home. They are interested very much in how things look, but also how they will function and hold up. The change since we started the company is mostly centered around more people having increasingly high expectations for the level of design and function in their home overall, especially in their kitchen, which is a great thing for Henrybuilt.
Above: A detail shot of Henrybuilt’s Bar Block, which keeps essentials close at hand.
Above: Henrybuilt leather handles from the Pull collection.
Above: The Opencase Wall System is a flexible, panel-based system that be used for a variety of purposes; in an entryway, a study, an office, or a wardrobe.
RM: What’s next; what new products are you working on?
SH: Our new tongue and groove panels enable us to extend the aesthetic range of what we do, and add a beautiful new textural component. You can see them in person in the Mill Valley showroom, along with our Opencase Panel system.
Above: An entryway system in the Mill Valley showroom.
Above: A kitchen detail.
Above: A storage niche with built-in bench.
To see more of our posts on Henrybuilt, go to High-Style Storage from Henrybuilt and A Storage System for the Whole Home.
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