Photograph by Dayne Francis
Ben and Maddie Richardson launched their online shop, Cocktail Commons, in 2016 after their house started to get “a bit crowded” with antique cocktail glasses and barware that Ben, a Staplehouse bartender and vintage furniture lover, kept acquiring while thrifting. “I had to put my foot down,” Maddie jokes. Now, the husband-wife duo’s inventory ranges from etched Prohibition-era crystal to kitschy midcentury tumblers, which they source from auctions, thrift stores, and estate sales.
As for their personal favorites? Maddie loves a classic coupe with gold foil rim, while Ben prefers a heavy, weighted rocks glass for drinking neat spirits. For the home bartender who has (almost) everything, Maddie and Ben are launching their Bar Cart Swag line—vintage cocktail books, prints, and decorative tchotchkes—just in time for the holiday season.
This article originally appeared in our December 2017 issue.
