Global InformationPaxton Gate information
Paxton Gate is a San Francisco-based company founded in 1992 by Sean Quigley that is named after famed British gardener and architect Sir Joseph Paxton. Described by Quigley as "a natural history museum merged with a home products store and quirky gardening shop."[1] It is an operation that features a large selection of natural science curiosities, taxidermy, numerous varieties of carnivorous plants, succulents, as well as gardening tools and a curated selection of books. The store's inventory emphasizes ephemera associated with the natural sciences, both of the animal and plant kingdoms, taxidermy, mounted insects, assorted neo-Victoriana, oddities, and products associated with the steampunk movement.[2] In 1999 the operation relocated from its original San Francisco Stevenson Street location to Valencia Street in the city's Mission District in order to accommodate its growing collections of vintage trophy mount taxidermy as well as fossils and minerals. The store freights a Victorian gentleman/inventor/botanist/biologist aesthetic that Time Out London once described as “Martha Stewart Meets David Lynch.”[3]
Quigley opened Paxton Gate's Curiosities for Kids in 2008 and licensed a second operation, Paxton Gate Portland, to owners Andy and Susan Brown of Portland, Oregon.[4], with a second Portland location opening in 2019. The original Portland store achieved a certain amount of television fame when it was featured as "The Knot Store" in an episode of the second season of the popular IFC television series Portlandia, created by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, guest starring Jeff Goldblum. Later, Armisen included Paxton Gate Portland in a travel piece he authored for the UK-based Guardian Newspaper in May 2013.[5] Arimsen would later bring actor Jerry Seinfeld to the store for an episode of Comedians in Cars with Coffee.[6]
In June 2019, Paxton Gate re-designed their e-commerce website for its stores and changed the name of its design arm, Paxton Gate Design/Build to RareField Design/Build the following year. Paxton Gate San Francisco is located at 824 Valencia Street, SF, CA 94110.
Website (all stores): paxtongate.com Instagram: @paxtongate & @paxtongatepdx Facebook: paxtongate & paxtongatepdx
- ^ Le, Ahn-Minh (10 May 2009). "Sean Quigley of Paxton Gate in Style Spotlight". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ Black, Annetta. "Beautiful Dead Things". The Bold Italic. The Bold Italic. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ Keeling, Brock. "Black Friday Alternative: Paxton Gate". SFist. Gothamist LLC. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ Clarke, Kelly. "Paxton Gate Keeps the Season Dark". Willamette Week. Willamette Week. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ Armisen, Fred (24 May 2013). "Fred Armisen's Portland: it's weird and it's wonderful". Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ Seinfeld, Jerry. "Fred Armisen". Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2015.