Vending Vintage in San Anselmo
About a dozen years ago, a handful of San Francisco antique dealers abandoned their cramped quarters in the city’s crowded commercial districts and slipped across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County. They settled in San Anselmo, about 20 miles north of San Francisco off Route 101.
The town is still primarily residential, a community of quiet, tree-shaded streets with elegant homes. There are two main shopping streets and on both, chic clothing and gift boutiques, fine cafes, bakeries and restaurants are interspersed with attractive antique shops and collectives.
San Anselmo’s proximity to San Francisco makes it fun for a day trip, because the town’s physical location, layout and ambience are ideal for easy strolling and browsing. In all, it has about 130 antique dealers.
There is a variety of vintage merchandise, and prices are generally reasonable.
There’s a string of antique collectives on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. All supply free copies of a San Anselmo Antiques Dealers Assn.’s directory and map.
Legacy Antiques (204 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.) features 35 dealers, each specializing in a different type of collectible.
Radio Activity’s forte is vintage radios, phonographs and office equipment. Old ink bottles (from $8 each) and metal statues of the original RCA dog--with his ear cocked toward a gramophone ($195, including shipping)--are encased in glass-fronted bookcases (about $685). Handsome old radios, including a 1935 Gronow shortwave and AM table model ($225), and phonographs are all in working order, though the tone may be scratchy.
Other dealers at The Legacy offer a wide range of gift items: beautiful turn-of-the-century English porcelain Blue Willow pattern platters ($195 for large sizes, $95 for smaller), San Francisco memorabilia, including 1920s pen and pencil sets ($10 per set), estate jewelry, antique crystal and silver.
Creekside Antiques (241 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.) has eight dealers specializing in 18th- and 19th-Century European and American furniture and home accessories. Among the dealers, Linda Reuther offers lovely old American quilts for bed or wall, and Pat Newsom is stocked with antique toys, dolls and folk art.
Down the block, the San Anselmo Country Store (312 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.) has seven dealers that display antique pine country-style furniture and home accessories in a charming, home-like setting.
There’s a marvelous armoire built in 1810 (about $4,100), a hand-hewn Irish cupboard from 1870 (about $1,700) that is big enough to accommodate full table service for a family of 12. An attractive handblown glass jar filled with dozens of colorful old marbles (priced at $55), hand-carved English pine bread boards (about $60) and a turn-of-the-century French coffee-grinder ($45) are great as decorative accents.
With 30 dealers, Collective Antiques (316 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.) features vintage decorating accessories. In Audrey De Martini’s oriental section, a Japanese tansu traveler’s chest (dated 1880 and priced at $1,900) is accessorized with a pair of exquisite red and gold Imari porcelain plates (dated 1900, priced at $200 each). Other tansu chests (from about $1,200) have beautiful black lacquer fronts or come in two parts that can be stacked or placed side by side.
Witherspoon & Postlethwaite Gallery (332 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.) is a small shop with remarkable Native American basketry and jewelry. Small, finely woven baskets cost from $300, but they are of exceptionally high quality.
Just off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at 10 Bank St., Carol Diamond Antiques offers an outstanding collection of 19th-Century American and European pine and wonderful wicker furniture.
San Anselmo Avenue, parallel to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, has several superb antiques boutiques.
Mary Lou’s Antiques (411 San Anselmo Ave.) has an eclectic collection of ethnic artifacts ranging from ancient Native American arrows of flint or beautifully beaded leather shirts to Ethiopian staffs and jewelry.
Shadows (429 San Anselmo Ave.) is a bower of lacy attire. The shop’s specialty is antique bridal gowns, accessories and estate jewelry. A delightfully demure dress with eyelet trim, dating from 1910, sells for about $300. The clothing is in perfect condition.
Dreams (609 San Anselmo Ave.) is a haven for vintage baseball cards, comic books, “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” Lucasfilm and Spielberg memorabilia.
Ethnic antiques are sold at Amitabha (621 San Anselmo Ave.), which specializes in elaborately carved teak furniture, lacquerware and ceramics from the orient. West of the Moon (623 San Anselmo Ave.) sells antique and contemporary Native American and Mexican folk art.