A neighborhood café designed like a public living room surrounded by a community clubhouse for arts, humanities, and culture

OURS Public Clubhouse & Café grew from a simple dream: a place where people gather comfortably in a welcoming public living room for food, drinks, conversation, music, art, and shared interests. The idea came from a community that formed in founder Angela M. Conte’s home and expanded into her community’s clubhouse. That experience inspired the dream to create a public place where this kind of connection can become part of everyday life for the greater community.

People can stop in for coffee, tea, lunch, takeout, a brief meeting, or time between errands. Others will settle into a comfortable chair to read, work, talk, enjoy the art on the walls, participate in a pop-up activity, or attend a small performance. Some will arrive independently, while others will meet friends or bring new people into the community. Everyone will choose how briefly or deeply they want to participate.

Food and beverage sales will create the everyday commercial foundation. Membership, arts and cultural activities, performances, art commissions, community partnerships, sponsorships, and repeat participation will provide additional support. Brief visits and longer stays will work together, welcoming people moving through their day and those who want a place to settle in.

The first OURS will take shape in Santa Rosa within a warm, flexible, and thoughtfully designed space. An open warehouse-style canvas will be transformed through intimate living-room groupings, café seating, plants, art, acoustic treatments, movable dividers, adaptable furnishings, and a community table that becomes a small stage.

This first location will establish and refine the experience, its modular design, operating model, and financial approach for a growing network of smaller OURS locations throughout the county and beyond.

The community is already forming through social and collaborative gatherings, conversations, and the people contributing knowledge, relationships, resources, and early support. OURS is beginning even before the doors open.

OURS began with what Angela created in her living room and community clubhouse: people gathering around potluck food and drink, sharing stories and ideas, discovering common interests, and finding creative inspiration in one another. These gatherings led to shared outings to creative events and activities throughout the area.

The public OURS will carry this experience into everyday community life, bringing these shared events and activities to OURS public living rooms. It will be a dependable place to return to, whether someone wants to meet a friend, arrive independently, enjoy a meal, work quietly, listen to music, join a conversation, participate in an activity, lead an arts project, or simply spend time in a comfortable environment.

OURS will offer the comfort of belonging together with the freedom to experience the space in one’s own way. Repeated visits will build familiarity and deeper friendships, which is at the heart of OURS. In a culture of growing isolation and social disconnect, OURS will be a place to recharge the human soul. 

Creative and intellectual life will be woven into the everyday experience of OURS.

Art displayed throughout the clubhouse will introduce people to local artists and give visitors something new to continually discover. The small stage will welcome local talent and invited performers for music, poetry, storytelling, comedy, readings, intimate theater, and thoughtful presentations.

Books, games, talks, food tastings, catered dinners, creative projects, civic conversations, and member-led gatherings will bring people together through shared interests and activities. Some experiences will be scheduled, while others will emerge naturally from conversations and relationships inside the clubhouse.

The café and living-room setting will remain available throughout the day. Arts, events, and other activities will add discovery, inspiration, and reasons to return without overtaking OURS' welcoming, everyday casual just hanging-out character. 

The first OURS will transform an open warehouse-style space into a warm, stylishly eclectic, highly adaptable environment. Its industrial character will provide an open plan for something unexpected: a comfortable public living room filled with plants, art, color, texture, and a changing community life full of conversation.

Several intimate seating areas will combine comfortable sofas and chairs with café tables, communal seating, books, artwork, and plants. Reused, distinctive furnishings will give the space personality rather than the uniform look of a conventional restaurant or coffeehouse.

Soft white walls, warm natural wood, smoky blues, golden yellows, and touches of pink and coral will bring light and character to the industrial shell. Layered lighting, textiles, art, and greenery will create warmth throughout the day and a more intimate evening atmosphere.

Mobile planter dividers will form rooms within the larger space. Acoustic treatments and sound barriers will support comfortable conversation. Flexible furnishings will shift for meals, meetings, activities, and performances. A community table will serve everyday gatherings and transform into a small stage.

A custom-designed café counter will support beverage and food preparation, pastry display, storage, warming, plating, and service. 

Founder and Concept Designer Angela M. Conte will guide the space's integration. Her degrees in psychology and art, and her professional career in event management and production design, will help turn an unconventional building into a complete social and creative experience that respects the community's cultural history.

OURS will support two valuable patterns of use at the same time.

• Coffee, tea, lunch, pastries, and prepared foods
• Takeout and grab-and-go service
• Brief meetings
• Art browsing
• Convenient stops during shopping, errands, and the workday

These visits will create regular transactions and continually introduce new people to OURS.

• Comfortable seating and conversation
• Reading and work
• Membership activities
• Arts and cultural experiences
• Classes, games, discussions, and gatherings
• Performances and special events

Longer visits will build familiarity, loyalty, membership, repeat purchases, referrals, and lasting relationships with OURS, supporting continued relationships and community participation.

• Food and beverage sales
• Optional membership
• Arts and cultural activities
• Selected special events
• Art-and-antique sales commissions
• Community and business partnerships
• Sponsorships

Commercial activity will support belonging, and belonging will strengthen the commercial business that sustains the social community.

Food and drink will provide the everyday rhythm of OURS and the primary commercial foundation that supports the larger clubhouse experience.

OURS will offer a focused, approachable menu designed for café visits, takeout, quick or shared meals. The menu will include:

• Regular and decaffeinated drip coffee
• Espresso, cappuccino, lattes, and seasonal coffee drinks
• House tea and a selected specialty tea collection
• Bottled flavored waters, healthier sodas, and juice drinks
• Desserts and pastries, with gluten-free and lower-sugar choices
• Seasonal soups and stews
• Fresh salads and grain bowls
• Familiar sandwiches with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options
• Occasional tasting menus, catered dinners, and seasonal specialties

Qualified local commercial kitchens, bakeries, food makers, and culinary partners will prepare all food off-site. OURS will receive it for refrigerated or dry storage, display, warming, plating, and service. The café counter will support this modest menu and coffee and beverage preparation without requiring a large conventional kitchen. 

This partnership-based approach will bring a varied selection of locally prepared food into OURS; create additional sales and visibility for community food businesses; keep the menu fresh through rotating and seasonal offerings; and reduce the space, construction, equipment, and staffing required for food production. These relationships will also support future OURS locations during expansion.

The food and beverage program will connect OURS to Sonoma County’s local culinary community while giving people another appealing reason to stop in, stay awhile, and return regularly.

The first OURS will be established in Santa Rosa as the prototype for a growing network of smaller neighborhood locations, each with their own community style. OURS Santa Rosa will begin with a focused operating footprint and expand as foot traffic, membership, and participation grow.

A separate investment and expansion plan provides prospective investors and development partners with detailed information about capitalization, financial assumptions, organizational structure, and network growth.

OURS is already taking shape through people who recognize the need for this type of community gathering spot and want to help bring it to life. 

People who want to contribute to this project can become part of OURS now by:

• Joining the email list
• Attending weekly coffee gatherings
• Following the project’s development online
• Sharing your knowledge and expertise
• Contributing services, resources, sponsorship, or early financial support
• Inviting others into the community-building process

OURS is an idea that begins even before the doors open as people see themselves in the idea, form relationships around it, and help create the place they want to share. If this sounds like you, please join us.