"When you see them grouped together, the pieces have a real visual integrity," says Mitchell. Now, as stores in Chicago, and Argentina are placing order and tables, benches, bookshelves, lamps and stools sell at II HK, Future Perfect in Williamsburg, and Twentieth in Los Angeles for prices ranging from $375 to $3,800, it's time they are short on.
Part of the appeal of buying this furniture is the idea that by working with unwanted wood you've hunted down, you are in some way returning to a more indigenous, direct relationship to nature. Anthony Brozna has found a guy in New Jersey who picks up logs as a hobby, like the one from Duke's estate, and calls him when he gets a choice stray then cuts it custom based on the grain and quality of that find. Because he's working with small batches, Brozna can air-dry the wood in his studio, as opposed to the usual kiln-baked process that's used by mass producers and reclaimed companies making wood floors and building lumber. "Air-dried wood is much more brilliant and retains more of its original properties," says Brozna.
While Brozna was working as a concierge at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan -- a felicitous day job for any artisan in need of wealthy patrons -- he began building furniture on the side sourcing supplies from urban lumberyards. Then the book "Cradle-to-Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things," by architects William McDonough and Michael Braungart, inspired him to find other options. He got his first big break when the philanthropists Ken Kuchin and Bruce Anderson, who have an apartment at the Pierre as well as a house in the Village, asked him to make custom furniture for their Preston Phillips-designed Hampton's cottage.
"I used entirely reclaimed ash and cherry for built-in bookshelves, beds and coffee tables," he says. The house was featured in Elle Décor and recently, the Fine Living network, as a cutting edge country dwelling. The socialite and newly anointed fashion designer Tory Burch also bought pieces for her Pierre apartment.
Now, Brozna is finishing up a commission for deco tables and a reception desk for the Richmond brasserie Can Can, owned by Christopher Ripp (ex-chef at Bouley, Jean George and Danube) opening in December as well as trying to complete a more affordable line that he will debut at the 2005 International Contemporary Furniture Fair in Manhattan next Spring. His prices start at $500 for an end table and go up to $10,000 for an armoire. "I don't ever want to be a big shop, pumping out multiple pieces, but I want to find a way to get this to people that's affordable," he says.
Of course, you could argue that no one really needs to buy new furniture when so many thrilling vintage and antique options already exist. Bert Bettencourt's answer: "Sure, it's always better to use what's already there, but a lot of people are uncomfortable with anything but new furniture. So if that's going to be the case, I think it's very important to be involved in a dialogue that offers new smarter alternatives while directly engaging with current design." Who can argue with an English major turned builder who has found a way to transform Steinway Piano Co.'s castoff chips into sleek tables? Let's go shopping!
About the writer
Miranda Purves is lifestyle editor at Elle magazine.
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