Maison d'Etre first opened it's doors early in 1995 in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood, opening later that year in San Francisco's South Park for five years, returning January 2022 to our current single location in the hub of Rockridge.

Our fledgling business sprung from the hearts and hands of my husband, Fred Womack, and myself, Patty Brunn, and, at some point when our two daughters, Lily and Daisy, had chosen to come onboard, we realized we had a family business. At the start of our thirtieth year, Fred retired, and we have ventured forward jointly owned and run by the girls and me.

The name, Maison d'Etre, playfully suggests the store's reason for being, to celebrate life at home. We serve our community and well beyond, purveying the best home goods we can lay our hands on. Though we are known for great gifts, our focus is not on gifts per se, rather to offer an array of wonderful functional goods crafted with style and integrity, for home– the table, kitchen, bed, bath, for baby, things for every room, and pure adornment for home and body.

In our modern life it is evident how many decisions are based on expediency and economy, sacrificing much of the grace of living in prior ages when life was more slow and savored with rituals and objects more honored and considered. Helping people live in an aesthetically pleasing environment, returning to an "estate of grace," has been our guiding light.

Hence, our mission: to support you, in realizing the pleasure of seeing around you what you feel is beautiful, meaningful and essential and experiencing the uplifting sense of joy and comfort from living in a home that reflects your individual nature.

Our cause: home, your renewable resource.