New Home Store Opens in Houston’s Design Corridor

Georgia Brown Home has blown in from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Aspen, offering a rich, deeply textured experience. Owner Shane Brown has built an empire around a love affair with the past, beginning with parent company Big Daddy’s Antiques, headquartered in L.A., which counts Diane Keaton among its clients.

The more intimate spinoff shop Georgia Brown Home (named after his younger daughter) first opened in Aspen — and the second has opened in Houston in the former Jas Gundry space, adding energy to the West Alabama design corridor. Brown’s keen aesthetic makes an impact in the reborn 4,000-square-foot interiors, with a nearby warehouse of equal size to open soon for private shopping; both store and warehouse will be retail and to the trade

While you’ll find decorative accessories and books here (tomes perfumed with age, including some 18th-century editions lining ample bookcases), the emphasis is on a larger-scale catholic approach to decorating. Brown has moved the shop’s entrance to the Edloe Street side, and a pair of dramatic jars, which held vinegar back in the day, now greets visitors. Other finds are equally fabulous, from cast-iron peacocks for a garden ($840 for the pair) to a highly carved circa-1900 swan bench ($13,000) and 19th-century riding boots that can now be appreciated as sculpture.

On a wall, an imposing 18th-century tapestry ($35,000) takes a regal stance. There’s a pair of towering doors that reportedly graced the outside of a European prison, along with a pair of marble sphinxes, both handsomely installed in the front courtyard.

Joining Brown in this endeavor is wife Kristine; the family divides time between Texas, Aspen and the West Coast. The well-rounded Houston team consists of creative advisor Donna Parker, store manager Chris Clifton and design consultant Saul Pontifes.

To celebrate its grand opening, Georgia Brown Home will host a casual reception on Friday, September 18, from 6 to 9 pm. If you’re reading this, you’re invited.

Georgia Brown Home, 3502 W. Alabama St., 713.492.0475, bdantiques.com.