Mate Gallery opens, a bit of Nantucket by way of Montecito

In our next scouting run to Santa Barbara, we’ll be swinging through Montecito to check out Mate Gallery, which opened a week ago in the Montecito Country Mart.

Fashion photographer Matt Albiani and his partner, Ron Brand, opened what sounds like a smartly styled home furnishings gallery -- a “nod to the nostalgia of New England history and culture, bringing the East Coast to the West Coast,” they said by email. Think brass whale figurines, ships in bottles, old paintings of boat houses and kilim pillows that would feel right at home in a beach-modern bungalow.

Vintage finds are augmented with brands such as Maine-based Seabags, which makes totes and accessories out of sailcloth, and Lostine, a Pennsylvania-based line of furniture and decor. (We featured a Lostine cutting board in an earlier feature on nautical motifs in home decor.)

MORE OPENINGS: 7 other new home decor stores

The opening is the latest in a string of new stores and store expansions, well timed to capitalize on what seems like pent-up demand in the home furnishings marketplace.

Mate Gallery, 1024E Coast Village Road, Montecito

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