Reader Question: Broyhill Sculptra and Lenoir Chair Company

Melissa left me a question in the comments of an old post.

Hello,
I have acquired a Broyhill Sculptra hutch and a Lenoir Chair Company dining set but have not been able to find any sources online that tell me about them? Do you know of any good sources? Thanks so much!

My first guess is that by hutch you mean Broyhill Sculptra china cabinet, although Broyhill did make a Sculptra room divider that I've seen called a hutch from time to time.

The first place I'd start reading about mid-century Broyhill Sculptra furniture is right here. I also have a post on the history of Broyhill Sculptra. If you want the super long version of the history of Broyhill furniture, this is the best source I've found. If you want the Cliffs Notes version: Broyhill Sculptra furniture was made for eight years, 1957 to 1965, and is part of Broyhill's Premier line, which is why, if your piece still has the tag, it probably reads Broyhill Premier Sculptra.

And this is where your two pieces share a bit of history.

From the Broyhill company history page:

Thomas H. (T.H.) Broyhill made his initial investment in furniture manufacturing in 1905 in Lenoir, North Carolina. In 1919, T.H. Broyhill became the majority owner of Lenoir Furniture Corporation, manufacturing bedroom and dining room furniture.

Broyhill Furniture continued to grow through the early years of the 20th century. In 1926, James Edgar (J.E.) Broyhill, T.H. Broyhill's brother, established Lenoir Chair Company. This expanded the company's product line into upholstery.

Also, the production of the Broyhill Premier line was handled at the Lenoir Chair Company plant. So, if you read the long version of the Broyhill history I linked to above, you'll also get the history of the Lenoir Chair Company.

New Gary Hustwit Film: Urbanized

I'm a house nerd, but I'm also a city nerd. (Well, I'm a lot of kinds of nerd, but for the shortness of this post I'm only going to list four.) So I'm really looking forward to Urbanized.

Urbanized is a new film by Gary Hustwit. Hustwit also directed Helvetica and Objectified, both of which I really enjoyed. (Because I'm a graphic design nerd and a furniture nerd - and there's four.)

From the film's site:

Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development, and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain.

Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities.

Mid-Century Modern Artist: Dave Perillo

Dave Perillo's art would fit perfectly in any mid-century home. It helps if you're a nerd because he uses a lot of pop culture references. But he also does commissions and super cute family portraits like the one above. They're be perfect for any modern mantel, or maybe a holiday card.

Mid-Century Flower Beds

Being accepted to the City of Austin Lawn Remodel program got me thinking about the yard again, specifically our flower beds. I want to make sure they have GRACE as well. We have three beds in front of our mid-century ranch home: front, back and side.

Because of the record-breaking heat we've had in Austin this summer, everything in the front bed is dead, most things in the back bed (except the giant tree) are dead and the palm in the side bed is on its last legs. We'll do our best to save the palm, but its too big for that space so we're planning on moving it either way.

Here's what I'm thinking:
In the front flower bed, an entire bed of clover, either Slender Yellow Wood Sorrel (native)

Or White Dutch Clover (adaptive)

In the back flower bed, Blackfoot Daisies (native) to go with the white of the house.

In the side flower bed, something shorter than the palm so we don't cover up the porch and something that adds a bit of texture, either Basket Grass (native)

Or River Fern (native)

I also plan on redoing the woodwork and the sprinkler system (the pipes you see in the photo above), but one thing at a time.

City of Austin Landscape Conversion Incentive

Today's post is more of a public service announcement: Know what's going on in your city, and know what incentives your city is offering.

For example, we just got accepted to the city of Austin's Landscape Conversion Incentive: Lawn Remodel Option. Long government web page short, when we replace our dead grass, the city of Austin will help supplement the cost if we replace it with drought-sensitive or Texas-native grass, which goes along perfectly with landscaping with GRACE.