Collyer’s Mansion Opening on Stratford in November

Collyer’s Mansion, a home furnishings and gift shop, is opening this November at 368 Stratford Road just off Cortelyou. Collyer’s will carry goods from New York City artisans and design studios from around the world. Neighbors Mauri Weakley and Ben Heemskerk of The Castello Plan fame are behind the project.

The idea behind Collyer’s Mansion grew from the couple’s pastime of collecting handcrafted goods from around the world. They’re also able to draw on Mauri’s experience from her past work with vintage clothing.

“Collyer’s Mansion will carry ceramics, textiles, tableware, furniture, apothecary, ephemera, jewelry and more,” said Ben.

The storefront and garage are still mostly empty spaces but they are freshly painted white on the inside and attention-grabbing blue out front. Pink chalk outlines the planned shelves and counters in every corner of the new shop.

Mauri, Ben and Casey Heemskerk (Ben’s father, pictured above) have been working on the space for several weeks now and will continue into next month. The main space, closer to Cortelyou, will house smaller items while the garage will be home to larger items such as furniture.

For those of you wondering about the name, wonder no more. Collyer’s Mansion is a term used by firefighters to describe a nightmare situation: a hoarder’s home so packed to the brim with stuff that it is a serious danger to occupants and emergency responders.  The Collyer brothers were two 19th century Manhattanites famous for their bizarre hoarding.

We don’t expect dangerous conditions but if the name is any clue, we do expect tons of happily weird stuff. The Collyer brothers collected over 140 tons various items — for a collector, that’s a lot to live up to.

Just around the corner, a Brooklyn ARTery gift shop will also be opening up this November for the holiday season.