Art in the Age opened in a former machinist’s workshop in Philadelphia’s Old City in November 2008. Grasse and his wife Sonia, a Tyler School of Art grad who does most of the buying, came up with the shop’s look and feel, then hired the Philadelphia firm Rissay — who are now busy renovating the farm in New Hampshire — to carry it out. Unlike his previous ventures, Grasse sees the shop as a full reflection of his own values. “I always say that if you create something with yourself in mind, there are bound to be other people out there like you.”