The Eames House and Dwell on Design
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).