Machine Age

Beware buying from this vendor on 1stdibs.
They will sell you something then sell it out from under you to a local client.
Very unethical vendor.

On the search for a small dresser and a small side table, my husband and I Unilocaled upon Machine Age.
It was way easier finding this place on Unilocal than it was in person! However, with the phone assistance of the lovely shop attendant, we finally made it to our destination, free parking and all (I know — in Southie nonetheless!).
I have to mention how friendly and welcoming the shop girls were, she was very helpful on the phone and pleasant in person once we made it there as well. Very nice!
The shop is a very large open floor showcasing a vast collection of beautiful furniture. I use the term ‘beautiful’ loosely though — while this furniture is in tip-​top shape and well polished or refurbished from another era, we discovered it is just not our taste.
I was hoping there might be some older pieces; as far as vintage goes, my taste is more early 1900’s than mid-​century modern. So I came out a tad disappointed. I should have taken from the reviews that it was all they had to offer, but hey, a girl can hope!
But all this is not to say that what they do offer isn’t a great selection of high quality and EXPENSIVE retro furniture and décor. It most certainly is.
A $ 2,000 foldable leather stool? Got it. A $ 10,000 piece of art (from listed but unknown artist)? Right above your head. A garage-​sale looking (to the untrained eye, at least) 1960’s dinette set that’ll run you $ 5,000? That way, my lady.
Walking through this warehouse of furnishings from another era, I suddenly began to feel like I should either (A) be pulling a green bean casserole out of the oven after gathering my laundry off the clothesline out back and calling the kids into dinner or (B) blowing a line of coke off one of the glass-​top dining tables and subsequently staring into a lava lamp with the Doors or Pink Floyd blasting in the background.
Thankfully neither of those scenarios manifested themselves and I made it out of there and stepped back into the twenty-​first century. Empty handed, and for two reasons — I can’t afford a single piece of furniture in that warehouse and frankly, while I can appreciate the collection, it is simply not in my wheelhouse of home design.
Worth a visit even just for entertainment and to intrigue one’s imagination — or of course, if you’re good on cash flow and into this sort of thing.

BEWARE!!! if you are selling furniture to Machine Age. They will lie about the worth of the pieces and then mark it up about 20 times!!!

We love poking around Machine Age and have been shopping and browsing in this place for years. We love mid-​century design and clean, contemporary home and office style. This is a great place to get interesting ideas. Think of designs by Eames, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Breuer, Saarinen, etc to get an idea of the style.
Even if you don’t want your whole house furnished in this way, one or two pieces often fit in amazingly well with other kinds of décor. Think of this like a store/​museum. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s a pleasure to walk around appreciating the aesthetic. Many of those designers of yesteryear simply blow my mind.

You have to be a real furniture nerd to find this place. Machine Age is housed in a huge warehouse space over by the South Boston waterfront.
You want a piece of furniture from the 40s to the 70s — a chair, table, credenza, whatever — they’re got something for you, and all meticulously restored. Of course, you’ll pay for that restoration, but it’s well worth it. All the pieces are heirloom quality, the type of pieces you’ll hand down to your kids.
The only downside is that it’s nowhere near public transit. The #9 bus and SL3 Silver Line stop at the end of the warehouse complex, but they’re intermittent at best out here.