One of the most touted new architectural developments this year is the South Florida, Trump Hollywood. In true Trump-fashion, this striking, 41-story, beach-front tower is ultra-luxury all the way.
The building boasts unobstructed ocean views, Miele kitchens, marble baths, home theaters, private elevators, a clubroom, a cigar lounge, cabanas, tennis courts, and climate-controlled fur storage (in case you get chilly while sun bathing). However, JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s admittedly biased favorite of all the amenities, is a communal wine cellar/wine tasting room that features our own palatial Floating Log Dining Table.
Working with renowned design firm Yabu Pushelberg, JOHNHOUSHMAND conceived a piece that reflects both the cutting-edge opulence of Hollywood Beach, while also offering warmth and intimacy. The 12.5-foot-long / 3-foot-wide table top is a bisected, black walnut log, sanded and polished to reveal the natural luminosity of the wood. This majestic trunk “floats” above 4 vertically mounted, translucent, glass-pane legs.
In truth the Trump Hollywood boasts a full-scale art collection of which JOHNHOUSHMAND is only one member. Nevertheless, amid a robust, building-wide exhibition that includes Mary Judge, Barbara Cole, and Daniel De Azoulay – we like to think our Dining Table stands out among the rest.
Apparently, Modern Luxury Magazine (the headquarters for style-savvy taste-makers) agrees as they featured the Floating Log Dining Table in their coverage of Trump Hollywood HERE.
When SURFACE Magazine’s CONCEPT House in Bolinas, California was sold, this sculptural table designed by JOHNHOUSHMAND was deemed a tad too dicey for the new owners with their young children. As the adage goes, “Children change everything (especially white sofas)”.
Now, this amazing piece is back on the market, and on display at our LA showroom in the Pacific Design Center (PDC). It is truly a one-of-a-kind piece, pedigreed, signed, and numbered.
Working with our friends in Nicaragua, we used an expert chainsaw craftsman to carve a dished tabletop, carefully arc-cutting the back to create an elegant shape from an otherwise cumbersome tree section….
After hoisting the components of this mammoth table up to a NYC Park Ave apartment on the roof of the elevator, the piece was assembled in situ. Engineered to come apart and back together perfectly, pitons and all, the finished piece is astounding for its design, elegance, craftsmanship, and engineering….
Not content to receive nature’s blessings, we have decided to push the envelope…. Originally conceived as part of our “Retaliation Collection” (more about that later…), we have taken a selection of extraordinary slabs of wood, and made molds from them, casting them into aluminum slabs. With all the cool beauty of white metals, and the intense living information of the highly character starting slabs, these pieces merit extreme attention. They can also be shaped and folded into standing pieces, book-matched, mixed and matched, and more.
The landscape of our lives is inspirational, always. Here we have graphed it into the classic topographical map and tucked it nicely under glass…sexy legs….good color… the works. Talk about mixed metaphors!
We can of course take your backyard, your family estate, even your bedsheets and topo them. This should be fun. And serious. And beautiful. Your move….
Caught between the desire to show the fractal elegance of character grade wood and the curse of its forcible nature, we created the micro slab. All the beauty with one-tenth the weight. What better to do than gift-wrap a perfect low iron glass box with it. We have created a new line, a new process, and a new look on an old juxtaposition: soft on hard, dark on light, warm on cold. Enjoy!
(There are so many ways to marry these… Come co create with us.)
“In addition to our NYC showroom (The Portal to Imagination!), we
have just opened our west coast showroom at the Pacific Design Center
in Los Angeles. Also featuring the Hous Projects gallery, this 3000SF
space is visual caviar, with exceptional pieces of JOHNHOUSHMAND
functional art combined with the work emerging international artists.
The collection gives the viewer a dynamic experience of these pieces
in a setting which reads both display and livable. Please come by,
share our vision, and maybe even a glass of wine. Currently in space
B528, and moving to B222 on February ….
The summer is finally upon us in New York. With the emergence of the sun and long evenings and summer Fridays, it seems the whole city is buzzing as people pack their suitcases to escape for long weekends. And now there is a brand new place to go kick back and soak up all that vitamin D the winter months did not provide…the Bungalow Hotel.
Bungalow is the Jersey Shore’s first real boutique hotel and the lifestyle you can escape to there is marked by the eclectic, luxurious atmospheres created by Bob and Courtney Novogratz of Sixx Design. When the Novogratz team was looking to develop a concept for their lobby, they knew they needed something that would strike their guests the moment they crossed inside. For this, they came to us at John Houshmand Design and we are proud to announce our collaboration with them.
Inspired by the No. 0130 bar of stacked Black Walnut in our showroom, the Novogratzs’ worked with John to morph it into a bar as well as columns, benches, a reception desk, votive niches, shelving and stools. It is a project that expresses our collaborative abilities. We love to synergize with designers who are ready to explore new directions. We are more than pleased to take one of our classic looks and dive off in fresh waters. Our abilities are wide ranging so never hesitate to be in touch. Also, all of our work is custom, so it is a bit like a Mongolian BBQ…you can bring to your plate the elements of our style you would like to see married and John will cook you up something tasty.
p.s. Our team attended the opening night party at Bungalow so those crazy people you see with their heads sticking out of the tree are…well, us! Go check it out for yourself and have a margarita in our honor.
Tierra Adentro, or Inner Land, is John’s home in Mexico that was named in reference to the undiscovered country that the Spanish had yet to conquer and Christianize in central Mexico. It comprises part of a historical land that was the refuge of proud revolutionaries. Moreover, there is a second meaning implied that refers to the unknown frontier inside each one of us.
Built in conjunction with architect David Howell, this hacienda is stunning and peppered with John’s furniture designs. A sparkling thermal pool, bathing tubs almost as big as the pool, an art studio and outdoor dining patios, among many other features, truly make this a retreat that will nourish the soul and make you feel worlds away from any of the worries of your 9 to 5. Or if you want a more social experience, there are 4 master bedrooms, 2 smaller bedrooms, as well as the art studio and music room that can be converted into sleeping areas that can in total accommodate up to 16 people.
The house is located 7 miles outside the quaint artisan town of San Miguel Allende near Atotonilco, or Place of the Hot Waters, where you can still visit springs from which curative waters bubble forth. The church in town has come to be known as the “Sistine Chapel of the Americas” because of the frescoes that adorn the walls and ceilings in a riotous outpouring of Mexican folk art.
John is a generous man and has made his home available for rental and has since seen weddings, photo shoots, and vacationers take advantage of the opportunity. It is a trip that you will want to relive again and again, but if you are still not convinced, keep in mind you will be treated to fresh guacamole and homemade salsa every morning made by the house staff.
Interior Design magazine did a feature article on Tierra Adentro in their June 2008 issue, and you can read more about it there or visit the website www.retreatmexico.com. You might want to have your bags packed before you take a look because you will be ready to depart as soon as you are done exploring the details of Tierra Adentro.
