Adirondack chair
The beginning of the 20th century marked a turning point in American furniture. Furniture makers were eager to put behind the days of Victorian fussiness, stuffiness and form-before function. People wanted a more relaxed style of furniture, one that put usefulness before formality. This movement in furniture making became known as the Craftsman period. A man named Thomas Lee was highly influential, almost single-handedly ushering in this new era of American furniture.
Thomas Lee was an ordinary man, handy with a saw and looking for ideas for lawn furniture to use in his upstate New York lake property, suitable for picnics on sloping ground. He invented the Adirondack chair, intended only for his family’s use. The rest is history.
Thomas Lee began with the idea of a spacious chair with wide armrests sufficient to hold a beverage without need of a table, where the occupant might sit and enjoy the beauty of the lake in comfort and simplicity from a sloping hillside.
In 1903, he began with a single board, cut into eleven pieces and formed into a chair with a straight back and seat and the now-famous and signature wide armrests. He fashioned many models, testing form and function against the feedback of his family, before the final applause. The resulting Adirondack chair went far beyond his aspirations of simple functional furniture designed to please his family’s use.
Thomas Lee’s innovative furniture soon came to the attention of his friend, Harry Bunnell, a local carpenter. Mr. Bunnell, struck with the genius evident in the design, asked Thomas for a look at the chair design, hoping to reproduce the chairs and market them. Thomas agreed, and soon Mr. Bunnell produced replicas in basswood and hemlock, which sold with great success. In 1905, Harry Bunnell patented the design, dubbing the chair “the Westport chair”. Some of his reproductions of the original Adirondack chair are found in antique shops today, with a hefty price tag. Mr. Bunnell is credited with expanding the concept to include rocking chairs and lounge chairs.
Thomas Lee’s original Adirondack chair lives on today, in many forms of rustic mountain cabin-style furniture. The Adirondack chair style has been adapted to tables, benches, lounges, gliders, love seats, ottomans, beds and rocking chairs.
If you’re looking for the Adirondack style today, you’ll find many exciting variations. Adirondack furniture is found in maple, cedar and redwood versions, with a variety of finishes. Some furniture makers take substantial liberties, including rounded backs and cushions. There are knock-offs of this classic furniture made of plastic and metal.
The Adirondack chair is now popular in outdoor coffee houses, with the wide armrest a perfect host for a Latte, eliminating the need for tables.
It’s amazing indeed to realize that one man’s quest for comfortable lawn furniture for his family so long ago has become a staple in today’s American furniture. If you enjoy the outdoor rustic life, live it in comfort with an Adirondack chair. It’s a piece of history.
