When Laura Hershkowitz discovered the historic George Allen House in the Village of Roslyn had been placed on the real estate market, she had to take a closer look.
As her husband Phil continued to seek properties along the North Shore for their new luxury household gift shop, Laura said she became even more infatuated with the Allen House – so much so that her intuition prevailed and Imperial China is now open.
“The minute I went in there, I saw it done, literally, because at the time there were a couple of interior decorators who had the bottom two floors done up and they were living upstairs on the third floor,” Laura said. “I just had a vision for this place.”
From its exterior, the George Allen House looks as it did before the Hershkowitzes moved in, but inside is a work-in-progress.
In a few weeks, the place will be ready after more than nine months of construction throughout its 12 rooms, full of the cabinets and shelving units necessary to house the crystal ware, jewelry and fragrance displays the Roslyn Harbor couple sell.
“We didn’t try to change anything to the structure of the house, and people love the look of what we’ve done so far,” Phil Hershkowitz said of the Allen House, which was built in 1836. “…We want the place to look like a house that our customers could live in and see the appliances and things we have and imagine them in their own homes.”
The Hershkowitzes settled in Roslyn Harbor two years ago, having been in business in Rockville Centre for more than 35 years. They operated two gift stores on the South Shore and a sports memorabilia shop in Oceanside, and still own various commercial properties they rent to other businesses.
At Imperial China, the Hershkowitzes have set displays from top manufacturers, including Waterford Crystal, Lalique Glass, Daum and L’Objet as well as Nest Fragrances and Swarovski Jewelry, with pieces currently on sale running upwards of $100,000.
When the store is completed, it will offer more than the standard retail set-up, Phil Hershkowitz said, as it will appear as a fully-furnished home with its appliances available for purchase.
One of the finished rooms is a kitchen area that has a working stove, coffee machine, and pots and pans hanging from the celing.
Another room displays flatware in a rather unconventional way – individually and vertically, as though commemorative plates or crystalized statues.
“We have never been able to display it properly,” Laura said.
The lynchpin in the operation, the Hershkowitzes said, is an upcoming partnership with designer and interior decorator Marc Blackwell, who will make available his collections of luxury goods and even work with customers on their design needs.
“When you’re in business for 35, 40 years, like we’ve been, you understand what ‘brick-and-mortar’ is, and that is very service-oriented,” Phil said. “That’s what we are, and people have responded to that.”
