A 300-square-foot old taxi stand has turned into an antique shop in Healdsburg

A papier-mâché tiger mask. Giant glass beads from Africa. A poster circa-1920 composed of hundreds of individual cigar papers. These are just some of the items found in the Healdsburg shop containing the most curious collection of antiques.

At a time when the Sonoma County city continues to reinvent itself, some of the most creative and eccentric design ideas in town comes from this shop, which was formerly a taxi stand.

The endeavor, appropriately dubbed The Stand, opened earlier this summer and is the brainchild of Kelly Dorrance, co-owner of BloodRoot Wines, with which the tiny shop shares a parking lot.

Dorrance, 45, has spent more than a decade establishing her design chops in and around town — making her mark at BloodRoot and Reeve Wines’ tasting rooms, which she also co-owns with winemaker husband Noah Dorrance. Way back in 2013, she designed Banshee Wines’ tasting room, one of the first tasting rooms in Wine Country to be designed without a bar.

Today, Dorrance said she sees The Stand as an outpost of authenticity.

“The way Healdsburg has gotten so high-brow, I’m craving spaces where you see the soul of the person who has created the space,” she said. “I want (The Stand) to feel like you’re walking down a dusty alley in Mexico, and you’ve peered through someone’s open garage door. I want it to be magical, quirky, and unpredictable. I want it to be like my living room. I want it to feel like a window into my soul. I want it to bring people surprise and joy.”

Making her mark

Found objects always have spoken to Dorrance.

As a child growing up in Missouri, Dorrance regularly went antiquing with her parents. Her paternal grandfather was a collector of sorts, and had sheds full of taxidermy, lures, buckets and other trinkets all over his property. At first, she thought these collections were mostly junk. Then she came to recognize and appreciate the stories behind each of the curios.

Fast-forward to adulthood, and Dorrance began applying some of this same wonder to her the different design aesthetics she curated for her tasting rooms.

At Banshee Wines, she strived for the feel of a hipster living room where you’d want to spin vinyl. At Reeve Wines, she sought to blend industrial and natural to bring the outside in. The vibe at BloodRoot: Mex-Cal chic with a DJ booth in the back.

Dorrance said in all these projects she put the wine brands first. When she opened The Stand in June, she strived to make it all about her.

“I’d describe my aesthetic as folk-art, industrial, mid-century (modern), rustic and quirky,” she said. “After spending so many years focusing on specific design vibes that fit the tasting rooms, it’s really nice to focus on my own personal interests and curate a collection of quirky items that appeal uniquely to me.”

Curating a vibe in a small space

Considering The Stand is about 300 square feet, it only has 50 or 60 items for sale at any given time.

Most of the material is arranged inside the shop — as of last week, the cigar paper poster and the original “antiques” sign from the Jimtown Store in the Alexander Valley hung on the west and north walls, respectively.

Dorrance also displays items closer to the parking lot. The African glass beads —which can be worn as jewelry or used as decorative elements — hang on hooks on the back side of the doors.

Prices generally range from $35 to $1,200, depending on the item.

Sourcing these materials is an ongoing effort — one in which Dorrance takes great pride. She is a regular at the Alameda Point Antiques Faire, which takes place on the first Sunday of every month. She frequently visits Antique Society on Gravenstein Highway in Sebastopol, and Rick Petteford Antiques and Art across the street. She also hits up flea markets, garage sales and estate sales when time permits.

“Antiquing was something I was doing anyway, so to do it and be doing it for a purpose now is really fulfilling,” she said. “It’s meditative for me. It’s fun.”

Perhaps most notable is Dorrance’s strategy for sourcing: She picks only the stuff she likes.

The papier-mâché tiger mask that was recently on display is a good example of this. Dorrance described the mask as weird and quirky. She also said, “I love it, I know it has an amazing story, and I know someone will come in here, see it and say they love it too.”

Another important aspect of the vibe at The Stand: A hands-off approach. There’s no point-of-sale system, no sales associate who greets guests when they arrive. A sign on the door declares to customers that the shop operates on an honor system and informs them that they’re being recorded on video. When guests wish to make a purchase, they head into BloodRoot to let one of the employees know.

“I wanted it to have this mom-and-pop feel, like a farmstand and I thrive on connecting people with objects that bring them joy,” Dorrance said. “I think we’ve achieved that goal.”

Community response

Customers and local supporters seem to agree wholeheartedly.

Busy weekend days see a steady stream of shoppers at The Stand, a buzz that has brought new life to the small shopping center on the southwest corner of North and Center streets.

Many of these guests are tourists who stop by as they stroll through town. A growing number of customers are locals — people who live in town, know Dorrance’s work from the wine brands and are intrigued to learn more.

Caroline Bontia, a Healdsburg local who runs Shop Local Healdsburg, said the collection at The Stand embodies everything about giving old spaces a new breath of energy.

Bontia is senior contracts manager and legal director at Dropbox, and she runs the Shop Local Healdsburg website and social media accounts on the side. She was one of the first locals to get the word out about The Stand. A video spotlight and interview she conducted with Dorrance garnered hundreds of likes and thousands of views.

“Like its name it's making its own stand: You don't have to make grand transformations with all the bells and whistles to create a little shop,” Bontia said. “It's the best example of being scrappy and being chic; Kelly just has a way of knowing how to create these cozy, modern and interesting spaces that make you want to linger and strike up a conversation.”

Tallia Hart, CEO of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce, echoed these sentiments.

While Hart generally shies away from singling out businesses in town, she said The Stand deserves special shout-out because it’s unlike anything else.

“The Stand has eclectic chic and unique pieces you can’t find anywhere else,” said Hart, who previously helmed chambers of commerce in San Francisco, Irvine and other large cities. “Mix in the handmade pieces picked by Kelly and you’ve got the ultimate Healdsburg vibe.”

Dorrance said items at The Stand will change regularly. She added that she’s always interested in evaluating new-to-her vintage materials to add to the collection, since it is such a labor of love.

“This is organic,” she said. “(The Stand) is just another chapter in the lives of these pieces.”