Blue Bottle at Fifteen: Henry House, Our New HQ
We see every new cafe as an adventure
We see every new cafe as an adventure, an experiment, a foray into a new community. But the opening of our Henry House headquarters—and the Old Oakland cafe just downstairs—earlier this year was something else altogether. For a company with deep roots in Oakland, California, it was more like a homecoming.
“For a company with deep roots in Oakland, California, it was more like a homecoming. ”
In 2002, our founder, James Freeman, started up a modest coffee stand at the farmers' market that still takes place on this block every Friday morning. Fifteen years later, we’ve returned with a spacious new cafe and a training lab. Guests can now enjoy espresso drinks and snacks (like Liège wafels or avocado toast), as well as handcrafted pour over, inside or on the brick-inlaid sidewalk beneath shady Sycamore oaks.
Henry House itself is a building rich in local history, build in 1877 to be “a first class hotel, suitable for families and transients...and handy to all lines of cars.” With its Italianate facade, Corinthian columns and glints of gold leaf, it was just that, attracting newcomers far and wide. Over a century later, we're proud our cafe continues to welcome locals and adventurers alike.