Gloversville Craftsman Creates Adirondack Originals
adirondack, culture, gloversville,
Need a place to rest your weary feet? Sink into one of Peter Schoonmaker’s handcrafted Adirondack Westport chairs.
Patterned after the original Adirondack Westport chairs patented by Westport, N.Y. resident Henry Bunnell in 1904, Schoonmaker’s chairs combine vintage style with irresistible comfort. They are made from mahogany wood and come in three distinct styles.
“We pride ourselves in our chairs because they’re dimensionally correct reproductions of the original Westport chairs,” Schoonmaker says. “There are knock-offs of every shape and form out there, but ours are recreations of the real design from the 1930s. Our chairs were featured on a PBS special on the Adirondacks last year.”
Schoonmaker was in the building trades industry for 35 years before he began tinkering with chair carpentry six years ago.
“My wife Christine had always wanted one, so I started by making them for her,” he says. “It was a diversion from my work.”
Before long, the chairs were more than a diversion for Schoonmaker. Today, he and his wife run their business, Adirondack Westport Chair, out of their home workshop on North Main Street in Gloversville. The chairs are seen on front porches, lawns and camps all over the Adirondack Mountains region. Made from wide-plank lumber, they feature broad arms and a slanted seat with a backrest that reclines.
Schoonmaker makes the original stationary Adirondack Westport chair as well as a 1922 convertible rocker and the unusual tete-a-tete (French for “head-to-head") chair. The tete-a-tete shares a common armrest in the center that connects two chairs facing opposite directions, so the persons seated in them are face-to-face.
“They’re great for conversation, but you’ve got to really like the person who’s sharing the chair with you,” Schoonmaker says with a laugh.
Schoonmaker’s stationary chair costs $485, the 1922 convertible rocker is $525, and the tete-a-tete is $1,000. The Schoonmakers show and sell the chairs at trade shows, including the Adirondack Museum’s Rustic Furniture Fair held annually the first weekend after Labor Day in Blue Mountain Lake.
“These chairs do best when people see them in person,” Schoonmaker says.
As a native of Gloversville, Schoonmaker has seen the community thrive as the Glove Capital of the World and has also seen it endure tough economic times.
“Even though the tanneries and the economy left, a significant amount of baby boomers have come back to live here because it’s a nice community,” he says.
Schoonmaker is proud to be making handcrafted chairs in his hometown.
“It’s fun because it’s something my wife and I do together,” he says. “I love it because it’s something we’ve created.”
Story by Jessica Mozo
