National Register of Historic Places in Marin County
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Stephen Porcella and assistant in 1900.
Photograph from NRHP nomination form.)
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11 December 2015
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Stephen Porcella House and Fashion Shop
800 Grant Avenue and 1009 Reichert Avenue
Novato
Built c1893
Stephen Porcella's Fashion Shop - a blacksmith shop and iron works - was built circa 1893. This business was named the "Fashion Shop" because Porcella would "fashion a tool to suit the customer."
Porcella made and repaired iron equipment, built wagons, filed saws, and filled many special orders for ranchers throughout Marin County. He lived modestly at the back of his shop, until he married and built the family home directly behind the shop in 1900.
In 1980, the Fashion Shop and Porcella House were listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1984, there was a major reconstruction of the shop, which preserved the original walls and the historic exterior.
Source: An interpretive marker on the building.