Design
January 15, 2013
By Amy Feezor
Designers Charles and Ray Eames moved into their now-legendary California home, Case Study House #8, on Christmas Eve, 1949. More than sixty years later, the Eames family — caretakers of the home since Ray’s death in 1988 — is prepping to preserve the space as it existed when the couple lived and worked in it for the prolific last-half of their lives. The family’s goal? To raise $150,000 toward conserving the house and grounds for the next 250 years.
Part of this fundraising effort includes an artful offering: four original, limited-edition prints inspired by the geometry and understated simplicity of Charles and Ray’s designs. Each hand-numbered print is available for just $75, and all proceeds will support the projects of the Eames Foundation. Additionally, the prints are tax deductible, and Herman Miller has helped create an “Authenticity Fund” to provide matching donations for each purchase.
It’s not a bad price for helping share the Eameses’ philosophy for future generations to come (and to own a piece of the Eames legacy). Find out specifics on the restoration project, buy the prints, and see a delightfully inspiring timeline now at eameshouse250.org. Read more
Design
October 7, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
As a lot of you know, the contents of the Eames House living room was moved to LACMA as part of the ‘California Design‘ exhibition. The Eames Foundation is taking this chance to do some repairs on the house and is holding a few events to help raise money for that work.
This event – dubbed ‘Time Machine‘ – lets you travel back in time and see the iconic house as it looked like right before the Ray and Charles Eames moved in. “You’ll get to enjoy a glass of wine in the Eames House living room just as it was before Charles and Ray first moved in – full of possibilities,” says Eames Demetrios, Ray and Charles’ grandson.
This fundraiser is open to the public and offers a rare opportunity to visit inside the house, which is usually only open to members once a year. The tickets are $250 ($200 for members) and 100 percent of the ticket sale will go to support essential work on the house structure.
Click here for tickets.
Details: Saturday, October 15; 4.00pm-6.00pm at the Eames House; 203 Chautauqua Blvd, Pacific Palisades. Info: 424 229 4038 or info@eamesfoundation.org. Tickets must be ordered by Thursday October 13.
Balance, Design, Products
June 23, 2011
By Cerentha Harris
Sometimes I have to pinch myself in this job and last night was one of those times. I found myself enjoying a delicious dinner at the Eames House. I was there last October for the Powers of 10 celebration but this was much more intimate. At the table were Eames Demetrios, John Berry (author of Herman Miller: The Purpose of Design and a friend of Ray and Charles Eames), Eames scholar Dan Ostroff and the Herman Miller team including Jack Schreur (Vice President of Herman Miller Classics and Retail) - all in town for the Dwell on Design Conference.
Above: Dinner at the Eames House. Dan Ostroff (left) tells the story of the La Fonda chair as Jack Schreur (middle) and Eames Demetrios (right) listen.
It was a magical experience, listening to stories from Eames about his family and future plans for the iconic building. (Look out for the Pacific Standard Time exhibition and a major renovation of the house). John Berry who had visited the home many times recounted a lovely story about a stormy breakfast with Ray Eames that ended in Ray offering John a container of crushed eucalyptus leaves for his son. “It was impossible to stay mad,” said John with a laugh.
It was also a great opportunity to hear Jack talk about some of the amazing things we’ve got coming up. You already know about Magis but there’s so much more. I can’t share the stories with you just yet…but please stay tuned. And in the meantime do stop by the Dwell on Design conference. Eames is speaking tomorrow with Sam Grawe, Dwell’s editor-in-chief and we’ve got a cool gallery-like display of iconic chairs (I’ll post shots tomorrow for everyone who can’t make the show).
