Inside Hollywood & New York Prop Houses w/ Fausto (HSG) & Set Decorator Rich Murray

Nov 25, 2025

Rich Murray, a three-time Emmy-winning set decorator known for Only Murders in the Building, The Penguin, and The Diplomat, shares his deep knowledge of New York and East Coast prop sourcing. He maps out go-to prop houses, auction and estate sale strategies, regional antique warehouses, and logistics for sending trucks to pickups. Short, lively talk about the patchwork system that dresses character-driven sets.

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INSIGHT

LA Consolidated Around One Stop Prop Houses

Los Angeles still has many prop houses but the industry lost several in the last 5–10 years, concentrating services at a few one-stop shops.
Kim lists staples like Warner Brothers, Universal and Omega as essential because they cover drapery, upholstery and mass rentals.

ADVICE

Choose Town And Country For Large Quantity Tableware

For quantity tableware and event dressing, use Town and Country because they specialize in large volumes of dishes, glassware, tables and chairs.
Kim highlights Town and Country as the go-to when you need banquet-scale rentals quickly.

ANECDOTE

Artwork Carries Production Memories

Fausto often recognizes pieces by which shows used them, remembering long production rentals like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air set.
He describes how certain artworks are forever tied to productions in his memory and HSG’s history.

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In this Thanksgiving edition of Decorating Pages, I’m giving thanks for the prop houses and vendors that keep film and TV sets alive.

I’m joined first by Fausto from Hollywood Studio Gallery, one of Los Angeles’ most important art rental houses. He shares the history of HSG, how he went from “shipping and receiving” to 35 years in the gallery, what changed when clearance rules tightened, and how they curate artwork for everything from kids rooms and hospitals to the White House.

Then I talk with Set Decorator Rich Murray (Only Murders in the Building, The Penguin, The Diplomat). Rich breaks down his favorite New York and East Coast prop resources – Newel, Eclectic Encore, Prop N Spoon, State Supply, Gotham Props, Fennec Props – plus the auction houses and antique warehouses in Connecticut, New Jersey, Philly, Hudson and beyond. We talk about sending trucks out for estate sales, using museum collections for cleared art, and how those “one stop” prop houses in LA compare to the patchwork system in New York.

If you love set decoration, production design, prop houses, and behind-the-scenes craft, this is a full-on love letter to the people who help us dress sets, solve clearance problems, and keep the doors open in a tough economy.

Listen in for shout-outs to Warner Bros, Universal, History for Hire, Advanced Liquidators, Nest, Newel, and many more – and for a reminder of why losing even one prop house is such a huge loss for the industry.

Topics:

History of Hollywood Studio Gallery and art rental in LA
How clearance really works for artwork on film and TV
LA prop houses Kim leans on for everyday sets and period pieces
New York prop houses and auctions Rich uses for Only Murders, The Penguin & The Diplomat
Estate sales, antique warehouses, and museum collections as design tools
Why decorators are genuinely thankful for prop houses

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