Photos: Chris Emeott
Husband-and-wife team brings new life to vintage home décor treasures.
After years spent hunting for and refining their own private collection of vintage home goods, Dan and Amanda Evans found a way to turn their passion for antiques into a business. Now, Haus Theory has a new location with a historic touch of its own.
Amanda says the idea for Haus Theory began through curating their own collection. “Instead of adding to it, we created a rotation; it kind of allowed us to share the things that we still liked, just didn’t have room for. That’s how it was born.”
They mainly hunt for their items through estate sales, which Amanda explains is a great way to connect a story with the pieces they find. “People find us now,” Amanda says. “So if somebody needs to help their parents clean out or scale down their things, they’ll contact us and see if that’s something we’d be interested in for the shop.”
Aside from estate sales, Dan notes that they incorporate their searches into travel too, whether it’s a family vacation or business trip. “Our kids have come to expect that when we’re traveling somewhere, we’re going to stop places and likely come home with something strapped to the car,” Dan says.
This casual curation turned into a full-time occupation for Amanda after the birth of their third child. In 2018, they opened their first storefront for Haus Theory in North St. Paul, but when the opportunity came to move into the former Evans Music building in 2020, they jumped at the chance.
“Evans for me has a very close place in my heart because my parents were the ones who started Evans music in the late ’70s,” Dan says. The building itself was built in the late 1800s, and since the music shop’s closure during the pandemic, Amanda and Dan have been restoring the historic charm of the space.
The opening was on October 2, and they still look forward to sharing a mix of their own finds along with Minnesota-made home goods and personal care items. Amanda explains that their focus is on trying to repurpose well-designed pieces, from Japanese antiques to midcentury modern designs, to get more life out of things.
“We always have this quote in our mind by Vivienne Westwood, ‘Buy less, choose well and make it last,’” she says. The same applies to their contemporary products, as well. “We’re looking for things that are of high quality, not disposable items,” Dan says. “Not things that are going to be fast fashion; things that will stand the test of time.”
Dan and Amanda hope that Haus Theory will encourage others to collect home décor items that excite them. “You have limited space in your home,” Dan says. “And if you just surround yourself with clutter, it becomes stuff at that point. But if you have a few select pieces that you absolutely love, you’ll cherish them, you’ll care for them and you don’t need to fill your house up with stuff.”
To see what Haus Theory has to offer, you can visit its Instagram @haustheory or visit the new White Bear Lake location at 2182 Third St.
Haus Theory
2182 Third St.; 651.429.0963
Facebook: Haus Theory
Instagram: @haustheory
