Friday, February 22, 2013

Seeing about 150,000 in furniture..

One cool thing about my job is seeing neat houses, neat buildings and cool renovations.

I was in a house a few days ago. It was built around 1910. It looks like a standard Pittsburgh house from the exterior. Probably about 3400 sq ft, brick, Victorian...

The current owner is an architect, or was an architect and is now retired. He gutted the house to studs in 1960 and made it "mid century modern" inside. This was neat, because you would never expect it from the outside.

Anyway, all of his furniture was period correct. My buyers were wandering about the house as we were wrapping up and I started talking to him. Usually Sellers leave, but sometimes when they are old, they just hang out and answer questions.

I asked who made his table, chairs and a few other pieces in the dining room...

He tells me that George Nakashima did. I asked him where he got them. "From George" he said in a matter of fact manner.

I can go on the record as saying that I dont give a fuck about expensive stuff, especially furniture. I dont harp or DWELL (get it) on it. I really do not care. However I was really into this stuff, and I was pretty sure that I knew who he was, but didnt want to put my foot in my mouth...

Anyway, I went home and googled him a bunch to find out that some of his dining tables alone are selling for 100k. He also made the Peace Table at the Hague. It was more art than furniture and it did stand out in such a way.

Yes this is one of the most exciting things that has happened to me recently

Looked very similar to this, with super rad chairs.

2 comments:

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Anonymous said...

If you are ever around the philly area you should check out the Nakashima family house and studio. It's just up the road in new hope, PA and its an amazing place. The more you learn about the man and his family who continue to make the furniture the more impressive the furniture becomes. I won't ever won it but I love the design and respect the man's craft.