The organic outlines and retro ranches that characterized the modern aesthetic of the last century are popping up everywhere we look.
Photo by Richard Leo Johnson
Something decidedly vintage-modern is in the air.
Under new ownership, Drayton Tower is about to receive a retrofit that will recall its glory days as the epitome of International Style. Southside Savannah’s Fairway Oaks-Greenview neighborhood, which broke new ground by going off the grid in the 1950s, was recognized recently by the National Register of Historic Places as a landmark worthy of preservation—the first suburban, residential neighborhood in Georgia so honored.
Area antique malls and auctions can’t stock amorphous Naguchi coffee tables, black-leather Barcelona chairs or abstract art fast enough to sate the demand for all things mid-century.
Savannah magazine has even found itself enamored of Eames chairs of late, spotlighting two residences in our Spring HOMES issue: one sports a rocking shell (above); the other, an original seat made of molded plywood (in the main photo) that inspired the interior of the Bob Perkins/ Keith Lyons loft at Drayton Tower. Clearly, we’re not alone in our affection for their sleek lines, dynamic colors and form-follows-function vibe.
The PBS American Masters documentary that finally gives this dynamic husband-and-wife duo their due—Charles and Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter—is now available for viewing online.
Together, Charles and Ray Eames quite literally reshaped how we lived. The couple designed and constructed their molded plastic chairs as affordable, durable furniture with flair. Today, those same chairs with their original Herman Miller stickers command prices among collectors in the high hundreds and low thousands.
To learn more about their visionary designs and much more, click HERE >>
