The Strange Life of an Old Leather Club Chair

This is Lynn, whom we met at Behind the Garden Gate last Saturday. This is not Isabella Rossellini.

And this is our 1930's leather club chair who was found at the wonderful Installations Antiques here in Houston.

How does this woman, who looks like Isabella Rossellini, figure into the life of an old vintage leather club chair? Here goes:

Last Saturday evening, we happened onto our friend Becki, owner of Installations Antiques. She was with the Isabellaesque stranger whom she introduced as Lynn, the previous owner of your old leather club chair. Now this is the very same chair whose ample arms hug you warmly as you read a book or sip a cup of hot brew...the same chair who beckons to anyone who happens by The Bunny Bungalow...the very chair who invites you to put your feet up and linger awhile and tell your best stories.

It seems that Lynn had inherited the old chair from her grandmother, Myrtle. Lynn had lived with the chair for a time but came to realize that she had little room for such a large piece. She gave the chair to Becki, whom she trusted to give it new life. Well, Becki had it reconditioned and covered in fine leather then placed on display the very day Tall Husband and I walked into her antique shop. It was love at first sight, even though we knew something would have to go, to make room (does anyone have room for an old creaky Boston rocker?)

Lynn tells us that the old chair was upholstered in a striped fabric and stuffed with horsehair when it resided at her grandmother's house. It had been Myrtle's favorite chair. When Lynn inherited the chair from Myrtle, she had it covered in a canvas fabric.

She was pleased to learn that her chair has a new life and is so treasured. Thank you Myrtle and Lynn for handing forward such a warm and welcoming piece of your past. Anyone who sits in that chair feels its fine history.