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"This reminds me of what Tiffany's in Breakfast at Tiffany's was like. Not nearly as big.... but stunning, timeless estate pieces of…" read more »
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Bill is one of the kindest human beings you could hope to meet. Upon talking to him, you can tell he really cares for each object he's collected. He has a story for everything in that store, and they're all interesting. When I'm keeping a tight pocket (read: always; I'm a starving art student), I'm still able to walk out with a few sweet, inexpensive treasures (i.e. old letters, photographs, keys, watch faces). To those who've commented on the store hours: please realize that it takes a lot of work to be an active collector. He's just doing his job.
Enjoy. It's a really lovely little place!
The eye of owner, Bill Haskell, is unerring. If you like small French antiques with an emphasis on scientific oddities, this place is for you. Terrific selection of antique bioligical and zoological charts. Check before going as he is closed as often as he is open, but when he's there, run over there and be
prepared to do some serious damage to your checkbook
This place is amazing. More like a museum than a store, but a GREAT store nonetheless. Very special.
are you ever fucking open?
after being burned the last few trips here, I called to see if they were open.
the message mentioned being closed for the holiday, but not to fear, they will be back on NOVEMBER 27th or some shit. seriously?
Open your doors, update your voicemail.
An amalgam of eclectic, selective, and downright fantastic curios from all dusty corners of the world (no, mainly Europe, and some old Amercian architectural salvages like the big ass cornice from Chicago).
Behold such eccentric beauty.
He's got a great eye for design, that Bill. Plus, he's always got Serge Gainsbourg pumping through the system so it feels almost like you're in a hazy fog of Parisian love. My companion and I can spend hours in here talking shop and looking through the old printer tiles or sifting through the botanical prints. Everything is worn and used but saved and put here in this shop: this is the real deal. I've come home with old classroom anatomy diagrams of fish and sea urchins retired from an old Dutch classroom -- (pieces of art, really); old maps, religious iconography; some Erlenmeyer flasks; precious wooden toys; all sorts of great stuff. Occassionally you can find true vintage mid-century furniture, all beaten up with just the right patina. And he's negotiable on any price.
Every city, every town, needs a shop like this.
Aria is one of the hidden gems of SF. Its antiques/oddities are affordable (as affordable as those things go) and interesting. There is nothing extravagant or lavish about the store or its contents, but you'll surely find something to treasure.
Make sure to call or ask around in advance. The owner can close the store for weeks and embark on buying trips around Europe. I think it's the mark of a great antique shop.
I love Aria. I just wish I lived closer to this little North Beach shop. On first look, one might think this is a junk store, but no! The shop's owner goes on buying trips each year to the flea markets of France where he picks up items great and small, and all with an ecclectic eye, tiny old keys, ancient wax manniquin arms, edwardian doll heads, personal letters, hand-printed menus, art nouveau bric-a-brac. A special shop, of which we need more of in San Francisco.
Call before you take the time to drop by, as opening hours can be erratic. We've disappointed on several occasions to find the shop closed on advertised open days.
I will start by saying that this is a truly unique and cool store. The stuff in there was exceptionally odd, and apparently from all over the world. So I would recommend stopping by just to see it.
However, my girlfriend and I felt completely unwelcome here. Sure we didn't walk in wearing platinum bling or versace suits, but thats no reason to act like we are trespassers. Other people seem to have good relationships with the owner, but he shot down every one of our attempts to make any sort of small talk, and we were the only people in the shop.
The other thing that struck me as quite odd were the utterly exorbitant prices for some things. I'm guessing you other reviewers here fit into the "money is that green stuff that endlessly flows out of the atm or my credit card" category. I'm not hating, I'm just saying that for the rest of us who cannot justify spending $400 on a tea cup that was imported from Lithuania, there isn't anything even close to being affordable.
So 5 stars for uniqueness and interesting stuff, but minus 1 for cold and another minus 1 for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
A beautiful treasure trove of glorious gems. Strange curiosities and freakishly beautiful oddities. It's like you've entered an unwritten Neruda poem about the romance of a Parisian flea market almost a century ago.
Its an assemblage of components to an un-organic potion of sorts - glass eyes, doll hands, diarama boxes filled with strange objects, keys that don't fit any doors, instruments that look imaginary, letters to people whom have long been gone.
Spectacular!
A dusty trove of the beautiful and bizarre. Astrological charts, anatomical diagrams, plastic letters, vacant dolls, strangers' postcards, worn typewriters, corroded hooks and ancient books. This tiny store is a patchwork of the oddest antiques and intrigues imaginable, woven together with the thematic and aesthetic awareness of a novelist. This is clearly a collection driven by obsessions: with the human body (scientific and representational), history, ownership, and text (typography, preservation and its intersections with reality). It's an antiques and collectibles store, but so much more. Museum? Gallery? Thrift store? Artists' resources? All of the above.
i went here for the first time last night. this shop is enchanting, and actually, it doesn't feel like you're in a shop at all, but rather someone's eccentric apartment.
there were amazing chandeliers, scrolls on the walls with nature drawings, dolls, assemblages, old photographs, etc. everything was out of my price range, but i was delighted just to see this place. i'll definitely be back again...i wish my apartment looked like this!
Beautiful and fascinating, Aria is no doubt my all-time favorite antique shop. The life-sized educational anatomy poster I received from Bill, the proprietor, is one of my most prized possessions. There is nothing you could find in the attic of your grandma's house or score at thrift town here. No BS doilies or jadeite. Everything has the aura of a relic. It is definitely worth a trip to North Beach.
this place is definitely out of its element but its delicate touches around every corner of the store are obvious. treasures are not found either few for far between but rather in abundance. and you can tell its not about quantity but quality. this place is pretty expensive, but its the finest that i have seen in a long time.
also, the owner was totally smoking a spliff when we walked in. it was amazing.
Bill is a good friend of mine that I have known for most of my life here in San Francisco. He has the most amazing eye for buying unique and special pieces that make your home or office that much more special. His knowledge of the pieces in his store and stories of where he got them will keep you thinking for days of how cool the Parisian/european antique market must be.
The longer you linger in this place, the more you see. Beautifully creepy assemblage pieces. Old maps and globes, mysterious B&W photos, glass eyes, anatomical models and posters, tin stencils, odd bits of jewelry, spools of French ribbon. Background music always a treat--Tom Waits, Jacques Brel. Even if the shop isn't open, it's worth the trip just to look in the window. By night, the interior is softly lit by a barbed wire-wreathed lamp. Terrific piece. It's not for sale, though!
This place isn't cheap but it is well curated. A unique, bizarre, funky gem of a curiosity shop. I've spent hours in there, daydreaming about odd little items and coveting ancient tools and faded stereographs.
Fascinating and utterly bizarre. This is not so much a store as a compulsive eccentric's personal collection of anatomical related oddities: glass eyes, heart models, skeleton and organ posters, plates of doll hands. Scattered throughout the small place are what are apparently the owners' own artworks (though not labeled as such, and not separate from the other junk laying around): diarama boxes filled with strange collages and objects. Best of all there's a sign on the door labeled "Hours" that indicates no such thing: it's just a big collage with no information of any kind. Weird, weird place.
Probably one of the most unique antiques stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. The fellow who runs this place goes way out of his way finding new inventory for his store. He often takes trips to Europe and comes back with some of the most interesting items that can not be found at any other antique stores. I like going in and browsing and really like some of the wooden antique boxes and lighting at the store, further Aria has many interesting prints.
Aria is simply terrific for taking friends to search for something fabulously offbeat, especially if they like old Parisian flea markets and appreciate the unexpected nature of this little gem of a shop. I do think it's important to call first-- the open hours are not really clear to me. Bill does an amazing job of coming up with interesting stuff-- I bought French ribbon from him at the Alameda Antique Fair one time, so you might watch for him there. Definitely worth the trek to North Beach!
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