Not far off the beaten path, in Houston’s Spring Valley neighborhood, exists an unassuming industrial building with a door marked only by the giant, seemingly anachronistic, olive oil jar that houses an olive tree. Behind this door lies Living Century Home, a store that sells imported decorative goods from Greece, Turkey, Indonesia, and India — all 100-years-old or more.
Founded in 2023, this fledgling company has already gained “cult status” among designers and architects from all over the Southeast. Even more impressive is that their marketing strategy is merely old-fashioned word-of-mouth. This appointment-only showroom sees two visitors a day on average, which makes sense when each appointment lasts between two and three hours. These time blocks may seem extreme, but once immersed in Living Century’s santal-scented sea of olive jars, small pots, and wooden pieces, it becomes clear how easily a person could lose all sense of time while searching for that perfect piece.
Umit Aktura founded Living Century Home for pragmatic reasons — he and wife Melis found it frustrating to source authentic antique olive jars for their own home. That previous lack of authentic inventory stateside is how Aktura explains their rapid success, even opening a secondary location near the Dallas Design District last year.
“I’m not someone who can sit behind a computer monitor all day,” Aktura tells CultureMap. The former software engineer and University of Houston alumnus decided to take the leap into home decor importing once the family had successfully sourced items for themselves.
“We try to source the best products, we have Round Top quality and better,” says Aktura. “We sometimes take two months overseas sourcing the very best.”
Living Century Home is aware that many garden centers and big box stores offer mass-produced replicas of the types of items in their inventory, but that’s not an issue for them. “That’s not our client,” he explains.
While many replicas exist of the large, white, olive jars from Greece, the highly textural and patinated jars from other countries are impossible to replicate. The three most popular styles come from Turkey and are known for their distinctive regional traits. These Turkish jars are Avanos, Aydin, and Odemis.
To assist clients with completing the Living Century look, the company also sells regionally appropriate “Shady Lady,” aka “Black Olive” trees in 6-9’ heights — very full service indeed.
Every item in inventory is subject to an authentication process and is tagged with color codes and numbered seals — they have provenance. “Everything we have I’ve put my own hands on and personally selected,” Aktura tells CultureMap.
Olive jars of all sizes, small jugs, bread boards, accent tables and stools carved from a single piece of wood, the list of items is impressive. Beautifully carved cabinets from India sit alongside a small selection of dining tables. The store also stocks rare, lime-washed paper mache “bowls” (just don’t add water!).
“The best pieces are only here because we love them,” says Aktura. “That’s why we take so much time sourcing.”
Most items from Living Century Home are purchased for private collections, though recently their antiques can be seen at Houston Greek restaurant Niko Niko’s, the new Yellow Rose by Kendra Scott store in the Heights, and what will be a very public-facing art installation in a soon-to-be-announced restaurant.
Do not be misled by their appointment-only approach to doing business. With pricing between $45-$2,000, their antiques are very accessible, but hagglers beware: “This isn’t a Round Top festival style ‘buy two, get 50-percent off’ sort of place,” says Aktura with a laugh. “Everything here is special.” Duly noted.
Photo by Emily Cotton
Each piece is tagged for provenance.
