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.
In collaboration with Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA), JOHNHOUSHMAND is pleased to present No. 0223 – The Bowling Alley Table and No. 0224 – The Chestnut Conference Table.
JOHNHOUSHMAND was approached by RAA to help create a working environment for their new downtown offices that would help foster creativity and collaborative design. Using reclaimed and salvaged materials, including vintage bowling alleys sourced from upstate New York, and setting the proportions of the tables at an extravagant size accomplished this goal. While the design of both pieces conveys a sense of dynamism and encourages team thinking, each piece is a unique creation unto itself.
No. 0223 – The Bowling Alley Table – boasts antique mahogany buttons and ribbon inserts with a thick, butcher-block weight and crisp, clean edges. No. 0224 – The Chestnut Conference Table – echoes the classic American look of the Bowling Alley Table through the use of chestnut, a popular wood in barns and simple country furniture throughout the country. By pairing together two, live-edge, sister slabs to create a conference table 28 feet long (over 7x as long as deep), No. 0224 replicates the look and undulating movement of an active river.
JOHNHOUSHMAND is honored to have participated in the creation on RAA’s new working environment. We can’t wait to see what they design next!
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!
JOHNHOUSHMAND‘s iconic piece – No. 0187, our black walnut, microslab wrapped, glass box low table – was announced as a finalist in Interior Design Magazine’s annual Best of Year Awards (BOY Awards) 2011. Winners will be included in a book which highlights the best in interior design around the world and announced at a fete hosted by Editor-in-Chief, Cindy Allen and Mark Strauss, President, Interior Design Media Group. We are keeping our fingers crossed!
