Machine Age

In the urban tundra between the Seaport District and South Boston sits an inconspicuous-looking 9,000-square-foot warehouse. Within it you'll find a candyland for modern-design addicts, a place where George Nelson, Hans Wegner, and Florence Knoll repose in sculptural armchairs and austere chaises. A favorite stop for interior decorators and movie stylists, Machine Age takes midcentury furnishings from around the world — dining sets, sofas, storage systems, lamps — and restores them to perfection, and also frequently updates pieces with new but always appropriate upholstery. Like so much of what it purveys, this place is a genuinely rare find. RUNNER-UP: Didriks LAST YEAR: N/A