At JOHNHOUSHMAND we are continuously looking for unexpected beauty in trees, glass, and metal. One of our most recent sources of inspiration has come from a surprising place: underground.
The root of a tree is something that most people don’t think twice about, but we sure do. In fact, this Cherry Root Coffee Table (No. 164.1) is only the second root table we’ve ever made. This is a special piece as roots are particularly hard to find intact and in good shape for use as a base for a beautiful coffee table.
We love the dimensionality of the wood as it fuses with the glass from both sides. The ends of the roots have been given a new life as they pierce through the starfire glass to truly create a one-of-a-kind piece. From the ground, to our shop in Hobart, this root has already been on a quite a journey… the next stop? Back down under to a beautiful home in Australia.
A lot of people ask us about where we get our beautiful slabs of wood, and the answer really is all around. At JOHNHOUSHMAND we don’t harvest wood for our furniture but instead utilize trees that have been felled or damaged by storms, need to be cut down due to safety or otherwise. Hobart, New York really has become John Houshmand’s home and so he is on a first name basis with numerous members of the Catskill community who let him know if they know of any trees that need to be removed.
It’s inspiring to see every part of the process from helping out another in the community, to having some fun climbing the trees, to starting to the create the custom-made furniture that we love to produce.
2011 was an amazing year for JOHNHOUSHMAND full of accomplishments and accolades! We are looking forward to the new year and expect 2012 to be even more marvelous! We ended 2011 in style – being featured in Marie Claire magazine.
JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s No. 0015 appears in the December 2011 issue of Marie Claire Magazine in “The Mood” section to show that nature, herself is still an awe inspiring source of ingenuity and artistry. Katie L. Connor highlights Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park and states that even “the fashion world, too, turns to the desert. Between rich, earthy separates and carved wooden extras, the beauty is obvious..” On that note in 2012, do not just be observers in your surroundings but use them as a funnel for creativity and personal expression!
Our blog usually chronicles the stream of new designs coming out of our amazing, upstate craft facility – the abundance of which doesn’t leave us much time to give our readers a look into some of our side projects. The “World of JOHNHOUSHMAND” is much more expansive than just furniture and interior design … a lot of it is artistic experimentation for artistic experimentation sake, and our “lab” is Scotch Valley Ranch.
This winter John’s pond, which features a propulsion water fountain, and a mobile, floating dock with a bed on-board went Andy Goldsworthy and transformed an overgrown bush into a site-specific sculpture. The water being propelled from the pond was arranged to cover the tree, which in the cold winter months freezes from the bottom up creating a dome-like, goliath of ice. The sculpture melts and freezes in accordance with the weather, beautiful in all its permutations.
Take a look for yourself and more to come!
The Little Nell Hotel in Aspen, Colorado has gone under a complete transformation in the hands of the acclaimed design firm: Holly Hunt. Just this winter, Holly Hunt Design completed the makeover of the Little Nell’s living room utilizing luxurious leathers, rich woods and custom-made JOHNHOUSHMAND pieces.
Hunt and her design team updated the 22 year old 5-star hotel with an “Aspen Modern” look, thereby preserving the comfortable lodge feeling yet opening up the space with more streamlined design. To this eclectic mix, JOHNHOUSHMAND contributed two matching end tables (No. 0229) and a 3-piece coffee table (No. 0228).
No. 0228, the 3-piece black walnut coffee table, is made from a single slab and blackened steel legs. The center table features an open-frame, rectangular base, perfect for storing and displaying books. The two corresponding end tables include a three-plated, Y-shaped base. The asymmetrical nature of these bases allow for flexibility in placement, with no one face being dominant to the others. The slab selected for the top, which includes two prominent knot holes and a desaturated, live edge was chosen for its unique character and rustic appeal.
The base of No. 0228 is echoed in the contemporary design of No. 0229 – two, glass topped, end tables which are mirror reflections of one another. These bases are also Y-shaped, but being made of black walnut, have narrow live edges and beautiful, streaks of natural color variations.
These pieces were designed especially for a project and a place where nature and cutting edge design meet.
At the end of last year, JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s No. 0187 Shazam low table gained acclaim in the design community earning the esteemed Interior Design Magazine’s Best of the Year, residential furnishings award. And now, another Shazam low table has found its way into a beautiful Aspen home.
This striking table is the perfect blend of fluidity and structure, femininity and masculinity. The cutting edge design works well in numerous settings while still very much remaining a focal, conversation piece. The striking rings and grains of the rich black walnut microslab are highlighted against the sleek starfire glass box.
We’re excited to see where the Shazam table ends up next!
The work of JOHNHOUSHMAND and architect Jo Machinist, was recently featured in Connecticut Cottages & Garden’s September Issue. The article “Bridging a New Life” focuses on a new Connecticut family home that is as sustainable as it is beautiful, both inside and out.
The eco-conscious, modernist home is situated on 1.3 acres of Connecticut coastline with views of the Long Island Sound and is surrounded by private wooded land. The home, designed by Jo Machinist, includes a billiard-room bridge, a studio, plenty of space for the family’s art collection, and a passageway that leads under the house to the Sound. Machinist made an impressive effort to make the home as green as possible using “local quarry granite, radiant stone floors with a high thermal mass, south-facing walls of glass for winter solar gain, which are cooled by solar shading in the summer, and clerestory windows for capturing the ventilating sea breezes.”
The interior design is similarly flawless. In the dining room, JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s No. 0080.3 Black Walnut Dining Table with Curved Blackened Steel Legs sits with Giorgetti Chi side chairs and “The Aim of the Artist” by Christopher Winter Pugliese. JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s No. 0006 1Fold Spalted Maple Low Table with Glass Leg sits in the living room along side a Cassina Met sofa, Holly Hunt cube chairs and Odegard’s Nima Tashi area rug. Both of these pieces accomplish the owners intent to bring some of the beautiful surrounding woodlands into the interior design of their home.
We were thrilled to be a part of such an inspired and forward moving architectural project. View the full project HERE.
JOHNHOUSHMAND was recently given not one, but two full page spreads in luxury publications, DEPARTURES Magazine and STANDARD.
In DEPARTURES Magazine November/December 2011 – our stunning cast aluminum low table No. 0103.4 was featured in their “One Perfect Thing” section in an article entitled “Breaking the Mold”. Here is what DEPARTURES had to say:
“I’ve always been interested in developing a combinations of wood with materials like glass, fine metals and acrylic,” says furniture designer John Houshmand, 57, who lives and works on a 950-acre farm in Hobart, New York. “Then recently I thought, What if I make a mold of one of the magnificent pieces of wood and poured in aluminum?” The result is a cast-aluminum table made from a giant slab of mulberry wood, anchored by sturdy black walnut legs – undoubtedly one of the most romantic and bold pieces of furniture to emerge this year.” – Wendy Goodman
In STANDARD Issue 8: Urban Holiday, both JOHNHOUSHMAND and our new line, JH2 one tree home were featured in their “ON THE TOWN” section:
“John Houshmand just launched a new line of his work, titled JH2, to bridge the gap between ‘being in a hotel lobby and a hotel room’ as he describes it. He still has his custom line of jaw-dropping wood furniture but this new collection will have more stock available and a smaller asking price, while still keeping his signature design style. ‘You make the concept pieces to turn heads…it’s like couture’. Then provide a great collection that is more approachable for a broad clientele. JH2 does just that.”
Both DEPARTURES Magazine and STANDARD are great resources for the design-obsessed, jet-setting, urban sophisticate. If you think you fit that description (and we know you definitely do) pick up a copy today!
