In 2015, then-14-year-old Seattle-based firm Henrybuilt sought to turn the 4,000-square-foot former Mill Valley Auto Service at 356 Miller Avenue into a clean, airy display platform for its unique blend of style and function.
As Henrybuilt founder Scott Hudson saw it at the time, the American kitchen had been playing catch-up as industrial design savvy had made huge imprints across our lives, from phones and cars to clothing and bikes.
In the years since he created Henrybuilt in a shed on Vashon Island, Washington, Hudson and his team made significant strides to that end, melding the flexibility, creativity and warm modernist aesthetic of high-end American custom kitchens with Europe’s integrated approach to kitchen design.
Henrybuilt was named after Hudson’s grandfather Henry Spurgeon Hudson, a cabinetmaker, carpenter, stone mason and farmer in rural North Carolina.
“The last place we wanted to be was on kitchen system row or near a design center in the traditional sense,” Hudson says of the Miller Avenue showroom. “Working with Henrybuilt is not about ‘shopping’ for a kitchen. Here we were able to establish a destination in an amazing space in a community with a great history and feel with which we share a lot of values. Coming to Mill Valley to see Henrybuilt sounds like a pretty nice day, doesn’t it?
“We love Mill Valley,” said Lisa Day, Henrybuilt’s director of marketing at the time. “It’s got a great vibe, it really fits with us and it’s a great destination for people on the way to Napa or Sonoma.”
A New Day
Fans of Henrybuilt are in luck as the business, which crafts made-to-order systems for wardrobes, bathrooms, laundry rooms, offices and walls, is unveiling its sister company, Space Theory, when it comes to Marin next month.
Space Theory will be located in a separate 4,000-square-foot building next to Henrybuilt in Mill Valley, and is the first of five new Space Theory showrooms scheduled to open in the United States by the end of 2026.
The new Mill Valley showroom will showcase the company’s products, house a design studio and be open to the public. Space Theory offers a complete system, including storage units, pulls, integrated lighting, modular interior accessories, countertops, backsplashes and sinks solely for the kitchen.
While Henrybuilt bills itself as “luxury-level” craftsmanship, Space Theory is billed as “premium quality” and offered at a lower price point. (Prices are listed on spacetheory.com.)
Their differences are explained by Space Theory’s proprietary software that streamlines the design and production of its kitchens, making it a simpler process and product range than Henrybuilt products, which are highly customizable, often with many handcrafted details and components.