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Categories: Antiques, Used, Vintage & Consignment [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Southeast Portland, HawthorneMon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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That Long Spring
In Tucson
'Baby's First
Red Wine Hangover'
you said,
in the thrift store,
swizzling air in the third or forth hand
thrift store
sniffer.
Real youth begins with
unvarnished hope.
The raw commodity
shipped in fresh
stacks,
still leaking soft
sap
under your hands.
I had my first taste
then
nineteen
on your lips
while you tried on
someonelse's
old fur.
In Brooklyn
'Addict,'
you sighed
against my earlobe
over the kodachrome pile
of dead
teenagers and
grandma's
pups.
Hope seemed to peak
not with potential
but fears
a half-assembled kite
as likely to tangle and
snap
as to drift away
or rise forever.
'I absolutely
need this person'
I thought,
watching your fingernails
shine as you fumbled
with an old camera.
In Portland
You say nothing,
in fact
I'm sure you didn't
see me come in
and run
back streetside
so fast.
That long spring ends
in alloy
it's not purity,
but simplicity
that's gone
cool and
pinging sharp
under your hand.
I had my last
clean taste
against your
hips
on a secondhand
evening
before you left.
Um, this place is a wonderland. One of those dangerous wonderlands that entrances you so can never ever leave....four hours later, your boyfriend has fallen asleep on a beautiful vintage couch, and your foster dog has politely peed on a mid century modern dresser. In front of the store clerk.
I still walked out with two dresses, the perfect 80's top, a pillow, and a 1930's lamp - all for about $50. Go to this place, plan to spend an afternoon there, and be happy.
Also, if you're wondering why there is a seeming lack of organization at the House of Vintage - the place is actually run by a collective of vintage dealers, and each room belongs to a different one. So it's basically like ten vintage shops in one building.
i. LOVE. this. place.
House of vintage is this insane bizarro store that carries everything you've ever wanted to steal from your grandma's house, but with the added display flair of anthropoligie'esque vintage chic. I'm ecstatic to see that there are still some good thrift stores left that bring in items somewhat selectively without up-charging the merchandise to account for the buyer's fee (ahem, red light).
This is by far my favorite second hand store I've discovered since being in portland - and I've proactively sought out quite a few. I have to admit, it's good the store isn't small, otherwise I'd tell everyone that it sucked so that I could keep everything for myself. Luckily for you, it's huge so I can tell you the truth.
My favorite store since moving here to Portland. I know it'll be my first stop as I look for my Halloween costume. I have found so many cool treasures at this place and it's not overpriced or anything. It is a place that also has more than that. great vintage clothes (you wouldn't imagine the price I've paid for some of the vintage designer clothing,) great furniture, and other nic-nacs, art, STUFF. it's just great. this is my review as a male. pretty straightforward. go there.
Weird shit, funny shit, cute shit, cheap if you look hard enough, pricey if you are a moron, and the best damn unsettling postcards I've ever been able to track down (then send out... to creep out those nearest and dearest to me).
I like the guy who always wears a green shirt too. Dunno if he works there, but he's always there. In green. And funny as fuck. I love this place.
You could seriously get lost in this place. The walls in every room are covered with house decor, cool leather boots, shirts... anything you can think of, it's here. I spend at least an hour in here everytime I stop by.
I take comfort in knowing that the shirt that I just bought here won't be seen on 20 other people.
Let's come to terms with who we are. I.... am ... a sucker ... for all things kitschy. I love the trends from the sixties and seventies, where it was somehow alright to smack an owl or mushroom on bathroom rugs and kitchen towels. Where it was hip to have a shag rug with fourteen shades of baby poop brown. Where daisies almost took over the world of interior design.
I love it.
House of Vintage is a mecca for all of these things. It looks small from the outside, but when you walk in and start guiding yourself through row after row and room after room of random vintage stuff, it's amazing how much crap they've packed in there. But GOOD crap. And generally affordable crap.
What are you looking for? A kitchen table? A children's dresser? Hats? Purses? Clothes? Nick-knacks? Maybe a bowling ball lamp? Seriously, they have one of those there.
It's like a maze of vintage goodness. Screw the corn maze!
The one thing that's always perplexed me about the place: where do all of those strange odors come from? True, old stuff smells weird. But really? I often wonder if people come in here, fart, then scurry their way on down Hawthorne. It's a possibility. Or maybe the 70s just smell like flatulence...
This store is a wonderful haven of odds and ends. One could easily spend hours upon hours here digging through racks and stacks of clothing, accessories, shoes, memorabilia, housewares, music, and anything else you can imagine. And best of all the prices are incredibly reasonable and even cheap!
Usually I tend to have poor luck in vintage and antique stores, so I wasn't expecting to find anything to take back home to Florida. However, the stars must have been prooerly aligned during my visit as I surprisingly found an incredible dress, overflowing skirt, and the cutest owl ornament. In addition to all the items up for grabs, I adore the original photo booth.
Girls (and guys) in South Florida can only dream of having a place like this someday in our part of the world.
OMFG! It's like a maze - bring a friend and drop bread crumbs because you may get lost or swallowed by the amount of stuff in this place.
To seriously attack this place you need to be in the mood to dig. You also need a large coffee and have a day with nothing else to do. There is everything and anything in here. It's one of those consignment places so each little nook has new treasures - this also means there's no order.
I'm always on the hunt for vintage accessories, especially purses and jewelry. They didn't have much jewelry but there were many purses. If I wasn't visiting and didn't live in a studio, I would have walked away with a ton of household items. I could have backed up a trailer and loaded it with the stuff I wanted to take with me.
What can be more amazing than a huge selection? Great prices, that's what. The mark up on "vintage" is insane at some other places but not here. Know, like other stores of it's kind, not everything is authentically vintage, either too new or a reproduction.
I spent well over an hour in this store and could have easily been there longer if I hadn't had places to go. There are so many cool things stuffed into every nook and cranny of this shop.
Prices are a little bit high and I found the staff a bit stiff in personality, but overall the place has a great feel and it's so much fun to visit.
In the end, I ended up with a sweet ceramic owl and a badass Back to the Future pin. I could have spent way more time and money here, but I had to limit myself or I might have gone crazy.
Just thinking about this place makes me angry! I'm angry at them for having a huge selection of clothing/hats/shoes/purses/etc.... for all ages of life! I'm angry at them for having a decent record selection. I'm angry at them for having an amazing furniture/decor selection. I'm pissed at them for the cheap cheap cheap prices and above all, I am livid at them for being in Portland (as i live in California).
This place could never exist in Fullerton, not without jacking up the prices thricefold and keeping all the good stuff in the "back" to be brought out in tiny increments over months and months. It reminds me of the wonderful Mission Theater, Bagdad Theater, Kennedy School, Chapel Pub, a place that could only exhist in Portland because of the cheap rent and the audience it brings. And this makes me sad.
Every item has been well loved. Not a grab bag of throwaways you have to dig through. You get a real sense of life in each item, a sense of time and place each item went through.
the price is ridiculous, we cursed ourselves for flying because we couldnt very well take a lamp or chair easily back with us.
I've been to Portland twice but to this establishment, 3 times. and i will be back. This time, with a moving van.
No other consignment store carries such a great selection of stuff from such a wide range of eras for such low prices. Just one reason, among many others, why Portland kicks most other cities asses outta the water to the moon. I'm hoping that that beautiful "working condition" 1950s wooden record counsel hasn't been sold yet because it will be mine very soon!
Umm, I'm sorry -- did the last 45 years just puke themselves up into this vintage ground zero? Because I am overcome with emotion, with passion, with greed, with phallic statues, and I love it.
Let's set one thing straight -- I'm NOT a "stuff" person. I find endless joy in ridding myself of it on a weekly cleaning purge. So browse gently dear shopper, because even the strictest of the strict find it hard not to suddenly "need" a vintage creamer and sugar set, or 8 wooden thread spools.
5 stars for finding a bedazzled headband sitting mysteriously close to a faux-renaissance portrait I secretly titled "yelp, or lute." Best of luck with that art career Brittney. (We loved the frame...)
In House of Leaves, what measures do they take to ensure that a line leading back into the light exists right before they take off for parts unknown? Breadcrumbs? A loooooong string? Either way, whatever method you prefer to retrace your steps, you should try it at House of Vintage. If you love unique, cheap stuff, you could traverse this place for days. Maybe years if you're Ms. Moneybags or high on that dusty, weathered, undeniable thrift store aroma.
There might be a rhyme and reason to it, but I couldn't suss it out. The Winchester mansion has a clearer trajectory from beginning to end. But unlike those haunted with visions of the victims of the family business or plagued with houses that won't stop growing, a trip around House of Vintage yields enticing surprises rather than ghostly encounters. You enter one doorway, marvel over the secondhand treasures in the room you've just entered, meander to another doorway expecting an exit, and find yourself in another room chock full of different odds and ends. It could be a museum, but you won't get escorted out for touching the artifacts.
Best believe, they may not carry everything. You certainly can't get a hot bowl of pho. But they come pretty close. Every corner contains a rack of clothes, many in very wearable conditions. Every recess holds a bushel of purses and shoes. Each hall has a charming little dresser. Do I even fold my clothes? Hardly, but I could be motivated to do so with a couple more of these babies. For the knick-knack paddywhack collectors, I saw trinkets arranged in hula girl and Nefertiti themes. They even have a section with children's books, and most of the books look new. A pristine copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends just escaped my grasp since the little kids I want to spoil would rather eat books than read at this stage.
But you know what launched this store from a pleasant spot to visit to my secondhand place of worship? Next to a register - I'm not exactly sure which one so I can't really offer directions - they have a special spread called the Gorey Details. You got it. More Edward Gorey and Tim Burton characters in a ten-feet space than in a whole Hot Topic store. That neglected murderesses calendar will look great on my fridge, which will sadly be devoid of all food because I'm putting all my money on the House.
"Stephy..."
"Oh Stephy...."
"Can you hear us? Can you?"
"Come see us, take us home, you know you want to...."
Oh, holy hell is this store amazing! And so incredibly unfair that it is in Portland and not closer to SF! Why, vintage score Gods, whhhhyyyyy?!?!
Anyway, I heard the alluring voices and fell head over heals in love with this store and honestly could have taken almost everything in it home. Chairs, lamps, clothes, purses, picture frames, ashtrays (I don't even smoke, but they were rad!!!). Just everything you could imagine to make your stylish little home sing.
I swear, if there is a God and he or she digs me, that God will go poof and uproot this store and put it in San Francisco tomorrow!
... I'm waiting.
Sorry to be an uppity stick in the mud, but I just don't like this place. This place is all about the quantity instead of quality. Oh, and it smells.
I went here on the Great Sofa Bed Search '08. In the multitudes of rooms, there was 1 -count 'em, 1- sofa bed. It was in OK shape, but the hideousness of it (I'm not talking about cool ugly, but puke ugly) was too much for me to bare. I tried to look past the ugly as I really wanted to get a couch, but when I found out delivery would be $40 and that was just to the curb, I knew I could do better. At Lounge Lizard I did.
I was also looking for a cool chair. Every cool chair was either stained or a ripped. The ugly chairs were in perfect condition though.
I did leave with a cool clutch. It was decently priced and in like-new condition. At least my trip wasn't completely wasted. I guess.
This joint is the Ultimate Kingdom of Old, Used Shtuff. After searching up and down Hawthorne yesterday for the perfect coffee table, we finally found it here. Honestly, though, how can you NOT find what you're looking for here? The place is a maze (literally), with so much shtuff to see, you could spend days here and possibly get lost behind one of the clothes racks. Staff aren't terribly friendly, as they're frantically busy trying to keep up with the stacks and racks of shtuff, but it's cool. I'm too distracted by the glory of everything I see here to even sense if I need help.
Our beautiful, vintage Mersman table was exactly what I wanted: small, oval, 2-tiered, dark stained wood, and unique. It didn't have a price tag, but no matter, I had Husband drag it up to the register for keeps. When the guy said "$27," I nearly fainted. These tables are everywhere, so it's not rare, but that's a freakin' steal of a deal!
I'll definitely come back for other necessities in the future, like kids' clothes, housewares, and furniture. Trouble will be keeping my pack-rat man from hoarding all the funky comic book glasses and cool Star Wars shtuff he saw at this place. Might have to sneak off by myself next time to avoid acquiring more shtuff than we need.
This place rocked my stockings!
I wandered around for hours and thought I'd seen everything until I saw the second half of the store. My feet hurt right now but it was all for the good of the hunt. This place is the store of my dreams. If you love digging for treasures you'll love this place. The furniture selection there was tempting me want to fork out for the shipping to send it back to San Francisco. The prices here are GREAT. In general most clothes are under $20 and furniture is very low priced.
I left with some really cute blue velvet wedges. I would have bought more but I simply don't have room in my suitcase. Speaking of suitcases, ff you're looking for a vintage one be sure to check this place first. There were a ton!
I will definitely be back anytime I'm in Portland!
TOO MUCH!!! Just... TOO MUCH!! But in a good way. The House of Vintage seriously never ends. It's one big wandering maze of vintage delights, from clothes to posters to furniture to books. It's definitely not for the faint of heart; this isn't a place you'll pop in and out of in half an hour. I could definitely see myself poking through this place for two hours or so and coming out with a treasure trove of goodies. Last time I was here, the rooms and I left with a Duran Duran poster and a Super Sonics pennant. WIN. A tad bit more organization would definitely help this place out, though, and earn itself that wildly sought-after fifth star of mine. Oh, and they have a photo booth, so they automatically go up points in my book because I sure do love me a photo booth.
Three words for you: indoor flea market. Seriously, that is what this place is. There is so much stuff to rifle through here. I recommend going on a full stomach, as it is time consuming to dig through everything. You may get cranky half way through, and need a Bunk sandwich beforehand or something. Bring hand sanitizer, as you may feel dirty after touching all the stuff. This place isn't a vintage store that presses the clothes and then hangs them. It is a lot of rift-raft junk mixed with some nice vintage pieces thrown in the mix. Literally clothes and items probably found in a dumpster from someone's house that couldn't sell at their estate sale. They also have a lot of cool furniture, home decor, kitchen wear, bric-a-brac, etc. The prices here are cheap too, better than the other shops on Hawthorne. You just need to have the time, patience and well fed stomach to rummage through it all to find some decent pieces.
Granted, if I lived in Portland and had more time to come here on a weekly basis I think the odds of finding great vintage would be higher. As I was just visiting my odds were lower, as I may have come when the buyers hadn't displayed their latest finds. Definitely worth checking out though if you're a hardcore thrift person like me.
So much stuff that your eyes cross after you enter the 3rd room. I scored 4 great vintage kitchen table chairs here for $5 each, not too shabby! The problem is that this place is sooo overwhelming and sooo stinky. And what's the deal with the creepy pictures near the cashier?
Go here when you have 2- 3 hours to burn. Bring snacks too in case of low blood sugar.
Very unassuming from the outside, but easily the best vintage/thrift store I've ever been to, ever.
Everything appears to be scattered around... no one area for furniture, lamps, clothing, books, records, etc... but that's because they rent out spaces to 55 vendors who price their own items and organize their own spaces. It's a thrift mall.
Because there are so many vendors, you get varying quality of 'stuff,' but there sure is a lot to choose from. One room had the best selection of working swag lamps that I have ever seen (probably 15 hanging from the ceiling and 10 more stowed on shelves)! Other rooms have miscellanous house wares, furniture, dolls, paintings/decorations, kids stuff, adult stuff, accessories, records, tapes, table lamps, and general miscellany. Rooms lead to other rooms and large warehouse spaces are fragmented by shevles, and a stairway even leads up to a hall of hanging clothes and more rooms! It's easy to get lost, but I found that part of the fun.
I completely agree that it can be overwhelming, and I definitely had to take breaks and get outside periodically. It's the kind of place you visit for a half hour, go get lunch, and then come back to take a final look before getting your gold glass swag lamp.
I would take off one star for the overwhelming quality of the place, but I have to give them that star back for customer service. The woman up front was very friendly and eager to help me with questions. Although their bathroom says it's not for the public, they let me use it anyway.
A very nice bunch of people, and an impressive store!
I agree with Tammy W - you will be overwhelmed. Go on a full stomach and with plenty of time to sift through the tons and tons of vintage clothes and housewares.
The selection for men and women is amazing. Most of it is fairly high quality as well, and the prices are reasonable - usually $10-20 for a dress, shirt, etc.
One BIG FUCKING LOUD PROBLEM with this place... They BLAST awful music all over the store, and one of the speakers sits right over one of only 2 dressing rooms. (I guess that's another problem - only 2 dressing rooms for a place that takes up half the block. That must be why there's always a line to try on clothes.) Frankly, I don't want Depeche Mode destroying my ear drums as I try on pants. Turn down the music, dude - this ain't your college quad, and no one cares about your angst anyway.
red cowboy boots for under $25? check.
sexy leather barbers chair for under $200? check.
mexican prayer t shirt with bleeding jesus? check.
incredibly sweet employees? check.
this place is awesome. after reading other reviews, i was a little scared to try this place out on my trip to portland or, but, thank the lord, my boyfriend convinced me to check it out. if you're willing to dig, you can find incredible vintage at a good price. AND when you leave with your bags full of goodies, there's an old school photo booth to remember your trip by....oh oregon, i heart you and your vintage shopping.
thank you baby jesus. this store makes me want to move back to portland. make sure you pee before you go as there is no bathroom. if you like vintage clothes, furniture and other fun stuff you will want to set aside at least 2 hours. it was hard to not leave with tons of crap i didn't need. sigh.
2 out of the 2 times I've been to Portland, I've come here. It is one of the coolest thrift stores I have ever been to, plain and simple. I really dig the set-up of the shop, with every seller having their own area to sell in. Although it can be a bit of a drag since all of the women's clothing isn't in one location, the quality of items bought here is well worth the search. A couple of months ago I got the cutest hand-knit cardigan for only $7. Cheap prices AND cute clothes... what more could I ask for?
to describe the awesomeness of this place is a nearly insurmountable task, and i'll leave it up to all the reviews before and after me to share their adventures navigating around the plethora of decades past....though i will say on one particular trip, a large rack of 70's leather jackets and assorted flannel came tumbling down momentarily burying me like a dirty hobo in a free bin.
i digress..
upon my last purchase of a mid century sofa i discovered you can actually barter with the seller, especially if it's been sitting around for a while. with that extra money you can now buy that velvet ship painting that caught your eye earlier.
One of my favorite vintage stores recently got three times bigger within the last year when it expanded into the huge space that the old periodical store used to occupy. House is now a massive labyrinth of dealer space full of old furniture, accoutrements, decorations, and clothing. Because each section reflects a different dealer, prices vary wildly, but there are some deals to be found here. For anything vintage, head to House, but beware: you'll need a big hunk of time to browse the entirety of this mansion.
You will be overwhelmed. Grab a coffee first. The place is HUGE! I lucked out on some gravel wall art and poodle statues the last time I was there. You have to sift through some crap, but the sellers' stalls are getting better and better. The place has everything from large pieces of furniture to housewares to bric-a-brac. The sellers who are there working on their stalls are very friendly as well.
this place is amazing
you could definitely get lost in here.
i want to get a truck and drive it up to portland, buy everything, and resell it in san francisco at double the price.
i think just about everything here is a really good deal compared to what you would pay for vintage furniture in the bay area. it is full of stuff but still really clean!
Ugh. This place hurts so hard. Stocked to the gills with kitschy garbage. I have never found a single thing here that was worth buying. Sorry to bum yer trips, folks, but this is not what vintage is about.
O holy detritus, Batman! This place was like entering a twilight zone of lost closets, estate sales and grandparents' garages (you know, where they stored EVERYTHING they'd ever had, throwing nothing away) -- I think this is where Stuff goes to die! Piles of stuff, from musty and moth-eaten fur coats, to lurid disco lounge suits, to slightly scuffed tap shoes and Go-Go boots, to weatherbeaten board games, to mirrors straight out of Snow White, to handmade Halloween costumes, to signs that glowed and unknown electronic devices that whirred and clinked away mysteriously in corners... I do mean piles. There are layers of ancient civilization in this place! Room after room after room, in a byzantine labyrinth the size of a warehouse that I got lost in several times... And wandering through this museum of forgotten kitsch were shoppers that seemed like relics themselves: rank and reeking hairy hippies, slick 50s hipsters, down-at-heels housewives in print housecoats, fluffy-bunny cheerleader-types. Most vintage stores discriminate as to what they accept -- this place patently doesn't. Nor, apparently, do they demand that stuff be clean when it arrives... I settled for a full-length houndstooth skirt, a musty woolen vest from the 60s, a couple of made-to-order (but needing to be cleaned) leather jackets, and a real, honest-to-god antique silk bow tie!
Hands down, best vintage shopping ever! You walk in thinking that it's small but then you realize that the place is huge, with a bundle of rooms as you walk in and then a large warehouse type room on the left. A bunch of Yelpers told me to come here but as fate would have it, looks like I would have ended up there either way. I'd been walking down the street and just decided to walk in with no mind to the signage. After over an hour in this fabulous store, I walked out and noticed that this was THE stop everyone told me I had to take! Glad I did. There is a lot of junk but there are some truly rad finds and lots of clothes. Great mock ups of living rooms from the 20's,50's and 70's that just makes you feel good. I exclaimed to my Portland peeps that THIS would be one of my regular shopping excursions once I move to this little city!!! It's super cheap too......purses and scarves and shoes, oh my! I think my wallet just wet itself.
You know that feeling you get when you've just passed through the gates of Disneyland and you're hit with the overwhelming equation of so many rides and so little time? And you want to run a little bit, but you don't want to start a riot or anything, so you slow down but you're still suffering from such severe sensory overload you have to remind yourself to calm down so that you can properly appreciate what's right around you? Maybe? That's how I feel walking through the doors of House. It's massive. And crammed with treasures, from vintage furniture, to clothes, to shoes, to tchotchkes, to roller skates, to bad paintings, which kind of equals my idea of heaven. You won't be able to properly look at everything in one trip. You're only going to hurt yourself if you try. If you're anything like me, you'll dart from one dealer space to another, drooling a little bit, trying on shoes, fondling gauzy dresses, calculating your ever-growing grand total in your head, and getting a little light-headed from all the heavy breathing. I love this place. I love this place. The prices are refreshingly fair, the staff is terribly friendly, there are fitting rooms so you can actually try things on, and there are plenty chairs and couches around for when your head starts spinning from the Disneyland feeling.
if second-hand/vintage/consignment shopping gets you high, you might need to pop a valium before entering the house of vintage. prices aren't the most reasonable, but vary from booth to booth. i think i forgot who i was somewhere in the vintage rock t-shirt rack located back of the store, left, but i remembered as i was charmed by some androgynous cutie pimping a cleopatra/king kut eighties sweater on me, and when i found the suitcase of my dreams, i became a fully realized person with attainable goals, and reasonable plans to achieve them. house of vintage changed my life.
Neighborhood: Clinton
Category: Used, Vintage & Consignment
Portland, OR
Category: Antiques
Neighborhood: Southwest Portland
Category: Used, Vintage & Consignment
Neighborhood: Southeast Portland
Category: Used, Vintage & Consignment
Neighborhood: Southeast Portland
Category: Home Decor
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