Liz Gordon’s love affair with hardware started when she was 21 and living in Chicago. For $3,500, she bought a warehouse full of thousands of pieces of vintage hardware and got straight to sorting and organizing, and she hasn’t stopped. She learned as much as she could about all kinds of hardware and what went where, when. When she moved to California, she shipped 50 fifty-gallon drums of hardware. For several years she set up at the Rose Bowl, at flea markets, and in her driveway. She opened her now-famous shop, Liz’s Antique Hardware, in 1992.
Liz stocks everything from doorknobs and drawer pulls, hooks and handles to vintage bath fixtures and lots of lighting. Today she has over a million pieces, for houses of every style, from about 1860 until the present day. Mid-century Modern has boomed in popularity. Aisles are filled floor-to-ceiling with racks of locksets and door handles, hinges and latches. An old library-card file’s drawers hold small pieces, old and new, carefully sorted and labeled—which Liz says is critical in keeping track of the vast inventory. One room showcases vintage lighting, from Art Deco sconces to fancy chandeliers. An alcove is filled with bath accessories including Victorian toilet-paper holders. The Hardware Gallery offers reproduction and contemporary hardware.
The Loft is an upstairs art gallery with curated shows. One called “Diverted Destruction” features broken and salvaged materials given free to customers. Visit for a revelation and education—or to solve your vintage-hardware problems. She sells online, too!
Liz Gordon has two nuggets of advice. (1) Never throw old parts and pieces away. (2) Measure and photograph a project before you start a search.
Liz Gordon
Liz’s Antique Hardware
Los Angeles, Calif.
(323) 939-4403
lahardware.com
Brian D. Coleman, M.D., is the West Coast editor for Arts & Crafts Homes and Old House Journal magazines, our foremost scout and stylist, and has authored over 20 books on home design.
