From the editor’s desk: A global design powerhouse stakes new claim in Los Gatos

Just the other day, I’d driven across the Golden Gate Bridge for an evening—and maybe more—away.

There I was sitting at a quaint little Marin County bar, after having ordered wine and ceviche.

I’d been carting around the prior weekend’s T Magazine, from the New York Times, and here I was finally getting the luxury of being able to flip through it at my leisure.

A few pages in, some bronze text—opposite a full page with an off-white and brown building (and a Vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci)—caught my eye.

‘We look forward to being a good member of the community’

Gary Friedman, RH’s chairman and CEO

“Dear Paris, / For 25 years, we’ve been listening and learning,” began the quote by Gary Friedman, RH’s Chairman and CEO. “We are in awe of your intellect, your elegance and your style. / You’ve inspired us to see more and to be more. / In Paris, the measure is eternity. This we know and have built accordingly.”

He ended with, “Carpe Diem.”

I realized, at that moment, I was just miles from the global design powerhouse’s headquarters in Corte Madera.

But I also was brought back to just weeks earlier, when Friedman had taken the time to speak with me in Los Gatos, after a Planning Commission meeting, where their local proposal got quite a good reception.

“It makes us feel welcomed,” he said of the positive views expressed by locals during that hearing.

He added he’d long been pushing to invest further in Los Gatos—even when others on the company’s board weren’t as enthusiastic.

“I personally felt strongly about this community,” he said. “It’s always been attractive.”

Friedman told me he was happy it seemed their pitch was going to be successful, since that would mean they wouldn’t have to move in order to expand.

“It’s a great place to be,” he said. “We look forward to being a good member of the community.”

And while Friedman wasn’t able to make it to the final Council meeting that solidified their plans, last week, company officials told the Los Gatan he will be in attendance at the grand opening.