Jeffry Weisman and Andrew Fisher Open Their New Shop, Casa Acanto–November 2013

Inspired by the artful colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, Jeffry Weisman and Andrew Fisher dive into the San Francisco retail scene.

During the renovation of Casa Acanto, their vacation home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico [AD, April 2013] designers Andrew Fisher and Jeffry Weisman of the San Francisco firm Fisher Weisman became inspired to share some of the pieces they had made for the retreat. The duo recently launched their debut collection in conjunction with a pair of retail outposts named after the property–one in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, and the other inside the San Miguel de Allende home decor shop Sollano 16.

Casa Acanto offers everything from handcrafted burl-wood desks and outdoor dining tables to objets d’art and candles scented with flowers native to the colonial Mexican city, as well as artwork and shell-encrusted furnishings imagined by Fisher (he is likely to be spotted tweaking the latest piece in his studio, located in the rear of the San Francisco store). “My work is inspired by nature, whether it be the umatched beauty of oyster shells or a weed with a perfect curl to the leaf,” says Fisher. “I think of furniture and lighting as beautiful jewelry for the home.”

Rich Brazilian teak, supple leather, distressed concrete, and patinated aluminum are among the materials used for the unique collection. In San Francisco, the fanciful pieces are displayed in a tent-like space with walls draped in burlap, hammered-copper pendant lights, and an impressive Regency-style chandelier festooned with crystals and seashells. “Our stores were inspired by the boutiques and couture salons of the 1930s and ’40s,” says Weisman. “Think of the fashion scenes in films from that era, and the rooms that decorating legends such as Michael Taylor and Tony Duquette created in later years. The shops are stage sets with a lot of verve.”

Products available online at casaacanto.com; by appointment only at 1706 Stockton Street, San Francisco; and at Sollano 16, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, sollano16.com.