Monday, June 3, 2013

Holland

I recently took a quick trip to Holland, Michigan with my local Herman Miller and Geiger reps. Since, Herman Miller is headquartered in Michigan they offered to take myself and Marc to check out "where the magic happens." Of course Marc and I jumped at the opportunity to check out Holland during the spring and I almost forgot to mention that part of the deal was that we got to stay at the historic Marigold Lodge.  The lodge is owned and operated soley by and for Herman Miller employees and their guests. Pretty cool stuff.
So, what other fun facts to know and tell did I learn on this trip?  An Aeron chair is manufactured ever 17 seconds in Holland (everyone knows what an Aeron Chair is, trust me, you've see it). And Herman Miller never actually worked at Herman Miller....yes he was the man with the money, but it was actually his son-in-law (J.D. DePree) that started "Herman Miller" the company and Herman Miller just backed it. Ok, that's all my facts for today, now enjoy a few photos from the trip....
At the Eames House!
(L to R): Marc, Stacey Fulenwider (Geiger International) , Yours Truly, Carie Mueller (Herman Miller Rep), Adam Call (The Herman Miller Collection)

Oh yes, we were there for the annual Tulip Festival! 

The land around the Marigold Resort 
Holland, MI on the water

The Marigold...isn't she lovely?

Spring has SPRUNG!
"The Front Door" at Herman Miller compete with a coffee bar serving up cappuccinos,  mochas, and lattes!

Phone Rooms

Tuxedo Benches from Geiger and Eames Molded Chairs 




The tulip festival.... love it!

Yes, I made everyone go to the Holland Brewing Company.... Gotta up dada when you can. No, John McG has NOT been to this Brewery, but Sarah has. 

Honestly, the beer sorta sucked. shhhh!
Marc and I parking it in some Eames Chairs for the night at the Marigold. Now, more importantly where's our wine? Note: Unlike some "designer" pieces,  these chairs are comfortable for hours upon end of solving the world's problems with a glass in hand.  I will own one.
I think this is REALLY cool. It's Charles Eames' original drawings for the lounge chair....we dug this up in the Herman Miller Archives.  Yeah, so cool. So, so, cool.

One really awesome thing that we got to partake in was going to one of three Eames designed houses in the world. This particular house was designed and built in 1953 for Max DePree (The CEO of Herman Miller at the time...and if you remember who started Herman Miller (JD DePree) that was Max's dad). Ok, If you have made it this far through this post and you still are asking yourself, who is Eames? Please take a moment to google it and educate yourself. 

Interestingly enough, this mid-century modern house sits in a fairly suburban hood in Michigan.  I can only imagine what at standout it was when it was built because frankly it still looks out of place, and I'm into this stuff. Max De Pree and his family lived in this house for many years, and then the next HM president and his family moved in for another few decades. They have since moved out and Herman Miller (the company) purchased the house about 5 years ago. Bottom line, it is a piece of art and history, but it needs work and is seriously dated. They are looking into options for this house, one of which is to scoop it up and move it (because it's slab-on-grade) to the Herman Miller Campus where it would actually get used for events and whatnot. Another option is to renovate it in place; the downside to that is that with it being removed from the HM campus and in a residential area it would only be used minimally as more of a museum show piece. We shall see... 



Original Eames Furnishing still in tack. 


Sunroom off the back 

All in all a bang up trip and quite the spring-time experience for an interior designer! Thanks Herman Miller!

2 comments:

  1. I am currently sitting in an Aeron chair and didn't even know it. Check education off my list of to dos today

    ReplyDelete
  2. YEAH!! I'm so happy that I've helped educate the world just a little bit more. And that's a nice chair you have.

    ReplyDelete