Image: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Huntington Store has introduced a new batch of hands-on products under its ‘Create & Play’ selection, led by the ‘Sushi House Model Kit’. The store describes the miniature kit as a build-it-yourself project with LED lighting, aimed at ages 14 and up, and says that proceeds from the item support Huntington programs. The retail listing places the kit at $52 and gives its assembled dimensions as approximately 7.7 inches by 6.9 inches by 8.6 inches.
The product joins a broader set of newly featured DIY and puzzle items presented in the store’s recent e-newsletter, which is framed around indoor creativity. The email invites shoppers to “escape the heat with hands-on creativity” and highlights puzzles, model kits and art supplies as part of that offering. Alongside the sushi house, the newsletter points readers to other new ‘Create & Play’ items, including the ‘Silent Corner Study Book Nook Model Kit’, the ‘Sakura Tree House Model Kit’, the ‘Pickagram Magnetic 3D Art Puzzle’, the ‘3D Model Red Rose’ and the ‘Morf Cyber Taco’.
The Huntington’s store is tied to the institution’s wider mission, and the product pages emphasize that purchases help sustain educational and stewardship goals. The store states that every purchase helps share, preserve and enhance its collections, while also promoting education in the arts, humanities and botanical sciences. On the product pages, the shop also notes that selected merchandise is designed to align with themed areas such as Asian collections, books, home goods, stationery and print.
The ‘Sushi House Model Kit’ is presented as a detailed miniature interior scene rather than a simple novelty object. The store’s description says the handcrafted haven includes cozy seating, warm wooden textures and a spread of sushi favorites, from sashimi and rolled maki to rice balls, or onigiri. It also notes that the kit includes all pieces needed to create the model, along with LED lighting. According to the listing, some parts require craft glue, which is not included, and the kit needs two AAA batteries, also not included.
The product information stresses craftsmanship as well as play. The item page says the miniature is designed to step into “a tiny world of tradition, comfort, and mouthwatering detail,” and positions it as both a display piece and a project for building. The store also says the finished model can be used in conjunction with other bookish décor, reflecting the Huntington Store’s broader emphasis on objects that combine design, making and display.
The kit is one of several recent entries in the store’s ‘Create & Play’ category that range across themes and formats, but the sushi house is the clearest example of how the shop is pairing making with a specific cultural motif. The listing does not connect the item to a program or exhibition at the Huntington itself; rather, it is presented as a retail product available through the store and part of the institution’s support structure. The store says it is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Tuesdays.
