Corners of the Mouth

A little red church full of groceries is about as Mendocino as it gets.

Overview

Corners of the Mouth is one of those places that stops people before they even get inside.

The stained-glass windows, steep roofline, tower, and unmistakable church shape still carry the story of the Kelley Baptist Church, constructed during the 1890s. Inside, the former sanctuary is now filled with fresh produce, bulk foods, natural groceries, local products, herbs, teas, and the everyday movement of a neighborhood market.

The combination should feel unusual, but it does not. After nearly 50 years in the building, Corners of the Mouth has become as much a part of the old red church as the windows, vaulted ceiling, and former choir loft.

The building began as a place intended to nourish the spirit. Its present occupants have spent decades nourishing the community in a different way.

Location

Corners of the Mouth is located at 45015 Ukiah Street in the historic village of Mendocino.

The building stands near the intersection of Ukiah and Lansing streets, within the village's tightly connected collection of older homes, shops, churches, halls, gardens, fences, and water towers.

Its dark red exterior makes it easy to recognize, while its church architecture distinguishes it from the surrounding commercial buildings. Although the property has served retail purposes since the 1970s, it has never lost the appearance of its original use.

The Kelley Family and the Church

Construction of the Kelley Baptist Church began in July 1893.

The building was funded by the Kelley family and was closely associated with Eliza Kelley, wife of early Mendocino settler and mill operator William Henry Kelley. Historical accounts describe the church building as Eliza's gift to the Baptist congregation.

The church was dedicated on June 10, 1894, with the Reverend John Simpson Ross of Caspar conducting the service. For the next several decades, the building served as a religious gathering place for Mendocino's Baptist community.

Its tall sanctuary, pointed windows, stained glass, tower, and prominent front gable gave the church the familiar appearance it largely retains today.

The Church Bell

Eliza Kelley wanted the new church to have a bell that could summon worshippers to services.

Her youngest daughter, Elise Drexler, purchased a bell in San Francisco and presented it to her mother. Eliza then gave it to the church.

On February 15, 1903, Eliza Kelley rang the new bell for the first time.

The belfry was enclosed during the 1950s, and the eventual fate of the original bell remains uncertain. The tower survives, but one of the building's oldest voices appears to have disappeared.

The End of the Church Years

The Kelley Baptist Church remained in use until approximately 1936.

After the congregation stopped regularly using the building, it remained under the ownership of Kelley family descendants. The former church then stood vacant for nearly 40 years.

Even during those quiet decades, the building remained a recognizable part of Mendocino. Its church shape, prominent tower, and stained glass preserved its identity even when there was no congregation gathering inside.

Personal Expressions

The long period of vacancy ended in 1974 when Rosemary Henes opened a retail business called Personal Expressions in the former church.

The shop offered an assortment of household and gift items, including wool blankets, bells, chimes, jewelry, perfume, glassware, pewter, leather purses, cards, and bath fixtures.

Personal Expressions gave the church its first substantial commercial use, but the shop's stay was brief. A change involving the rent and another nearby building would soon set up an unusual exchange of locations between two Mendocino businesses.

The Beginning of Corners of the Mouth

The story of Corners of the Mouth began in 1975, when Gary Sheppard organized a food-buying club to provide healthy, affordable food to the Mendocino community.

The club initially operated from Kellieowen Hall at the southwest corner of Lansing and Ukiah streets. It reflected the back-to-the-land movement of the period and a growing interest in organic foods, bulk purchasing, local agriculture, and alternatives to conventional grocery stores.

In 1976, the organization became a nonprofit worker collective. Rather than operating under a traditional owner-and-employees arrangement, the workers shared responsibility for managing the store. That collective structure continues to distinguish the business.

A Mendocino Building Swap

Corners of the Mouth did not begin inside the old red church.

In 1976, Personal Expressions owner Rosemary Henes purchased Kellieowen Hall and prepared to move her store there. Corners of the Mouth, which had been operating from the hall, needed a new home.

The answer was the building Personal Expressions was leaving.

Corners moved into the former Kelley Baptist Church late in 1976, creating one of Mendocino's more memorable business transitions: the gift shop moved into the food club's building, and the food collective moved into the gift shop's former church.

The Meaning Behind the Name

The name "Corners of the Mouth" comes from Hexagram 27 of the *I Ching*, an ancient Chinese text of philosophy and divination.

The hexagram is commonly associated with nourishment. Its meaning extends beyond eating and includes paying attention to what people use to sustain the body, mind, character, and community.

That idea suited a food collective established not simply to sell groceries, but to provide healthier food through cooperation, shared responsibility, and community participation.

Inside the Old Church

The interior remains one of the store's most distinctive features.

The high ceiling and pointed stained-glass windows preserve the feeling of the former sanctuary, while grocery shelves, coolers, produce displays, and bins occupy the main floor.

Above the checkout area, the former loft has become especially well known for its large selection of loose teas, herbs, and related products. Shoppers can look down from the upper level onto the main store, making the old church layout part of the shopping experience.

The building is small compared with a conventional supermarket, but its vertical space, loft, and carefully packed shelves allow it to carry a surprisingly broad selection.

The Store Today

Corners of the Mouth continues operating as a collectively managed natural-food store.

Its offerings include fresh produce, organic groceries, bulk grains and staples, local cheeses, herbs, teas, snacks, specialty foods, and products suited to vegetarian and vegan diets. Public visitor information continues to identify it as a collectively owned store in downtown Mendocino.

The business has survived major changes in grocery retailing while maintaining an identity rooted in the ideals of the 1970s: cooperation, healthy food, local sourcing, reduced packaging, and community service.

In 2025, the Kelley House Museum marked the 50th anniversary of the Corners collective with an exhibition about the store, its workers, its name, and the history of the former church.

Building and Architecture

The former Kelley Baptist Church is a wood-frame building with clapboard siding, a steeply pitched roof, a prominent front gable, pointed windows, decorative shingle work, stained glass, and a square tower.

The building's tall sanctuary ceiling and lancet-style windows create the vertical feeling traditionally associated with church architecture.

Its deep red exterior has become so closely identified with Corners of the Mouth that many people now know it simply as the old red church. The color, stained glass, produce displays, garden plantings, and small white fence produce one of Mendocino's most recognizable storefronts.

Although adapted for retail use, the building has not been disguised as an ordinary grocery store. Its original form remains visible both inside and out.

Community Memories

One longtime customer remembers shopping at Corners of the Mouth from the day it first opened.

Another especially enjoys the extensive tea collection upstairs, where the former church loft overlooks the main shopping floor.

These memories show how the building's unusual layout has become inseparable from the experience of shopping there. People remember not only what they bought, but the stairs, the tea room, the stained glass, the produce beneath the high ceiling, and the feeling of finding a complete little market inside an old church.

Timeline

**July 1893** --- Construction begins on the Kelley Baptist Church on Ukiah Street.

**June 10, 1894** --- The church is dedicated by the Reverend John Simpson Ross of Caspar.

**February 15, 1903** --- Eliza Kelley rings the church's new bell for the first time.

**About 1936** --- Regular use of the building as a Baptist church ends.

**Late 1930s--early 1970s** --- The former church remains largely vacant while still owned by Kelley family descendants.

**1950s** --- The church belfry is enclosed.

**1974** --- Rosemary Henes opens Personal Expressions in the former church.

**1975** --- Gary Sheppard establishes a food-buying club in Kellieowen Hall.

**1976** --- The food club becomes a worker collective and adopts the name Corners of the Mouth.

**Late 1976** --- Personal Expressions moves to Kellieowen Hall, and Corners of the Mouth moves into the former Kelley Baptist Church.

**2025** --- Corners of the Mouth celebrates the collective's 50th anniversary.

**Today** --- The historic church continues serving Mendocino as a collectively managed natural-food store.

Why It Matters

Corners of the Mouth represents two kinds of Mendocino history occupying the same space.

The first is the history of the Kelley family, the Baptist congregation, Eliza Kelley's church bell, and a religious building that served the village beginning in the 1890s.

The second is the story of the Mendocino Coast during the 1970s, when food cooperatives, organic agriculture, worker collectives, and the back-to-the-land movement became important parts of local life.

Neither history erased the other.

The stained glass and church tower remain, but so do the produce bins, bulk foods, tea shelves, and collectively managed business created during another distinctive period in Mendocino's development.

The building has now spent nearly as long as a natural-food store as it did as an active church.

It began as a place where people gathered for spiritual nourishment. Today, Corners of the Mouth continues the theme of nourishment---physical, social, and communal---in a way that could only have happened in Mendocino.

Sources & Original Research

This article blends verifiable historical research with community recollections supplied through the original Buildings and Businesses in Mendocino post. Historical information about the Kelley Baptist Church, its construction beginning in July 1893, its June 10, 1894 dedication, the Kelley family, Eliza Kelley's church bell, the building's use until approximately 1936, the enclosed belfry, Personal Expressions, and the 1976 move by Corners of the Mouth comes from the Kelley House Museum's historical articles and 2025 anniversary exhibition materials. Information about the food-buying club, Gary Sheppard, Kellieowen Hall, the worker collective, the meaning of the name, and the store's 50th anniversary comes from the Kelley House Museum and *Edible Mendocino & Lake Counties*. Current business information comes from Visit Mendocino County and public Corners of the Mouth business listings. Original post text provided by Gee Bee; comment thread provided by Gee Bee with contributor memories from India Gingell, Teresa Warmke, and John Manning.