Fly FishingDogsConservationHuntingLifestyleProducts We LoveFly Fishing Videos The benefits of Membership 0 items in your basket Gift Card5% For Nature Find an Orvis retail store near you. Our outdoor Adirondack chairs stay beautiful all year long. A Quest for the Ultimate Lawn Chair Our story begins in 1903 with a gentleman by the name of Thomas Lee. Lee had a beautiful summer place up in Westport, NY right on Lake Champlain, but he also had a bit of a problem. It wasn’t the house, or the view of the lake; the problem was that he didn’t have one decent piece of outdoor furniture. Now, as we all know, standing up while viewing a summer sunset is nice, but watching that sunset while comfortably seated with a cocktail at hand is always nicer. So Lee set out to build his family the ultimate lawn chair. But he didn’t want to make just any old chair. This chair needed to be comfortable and durable, have a solid surface to rest a glass, and above all, be sturdy when placed on the sloping terrain of the Adirondack region.
Lee tried out several different designs and, using his family members as “test sitters,” eventually settled on a chair constructed from eleven pieces of wood all cut from one single plank. It was a low-slung, spacious design with a high back and extra-wide armrests for that all-important summer beverage. Now, things would have been just fine for the Lee family if the story ended here. They were comfortable, they were relaxed, and most importantly, they were off the ground. It was summer and life was good. But things were about to get interesting. A Tale of Two Friends—And One Patent One fine afternoon that summer, as Lee was relaxing by the lake in one of his new chairs, his good friend and hunting buddy Harry Bunnell stopped by to chat. Bunnell, who was a carpenter by trade, took an immediate liking to Lee’s new chair design. As the two men talked, Bunnell suggested he could build Lee’s chairs at his wood shop in the off-season. Bunnell could make a few extra dollars during those cold Adirondack winters;
Lee’s chairs would get sold. It was a win-win. “Why not?” thought Lee. Bunnell was a stand-up guy, trustworthy, and above all, he was a friend. So Lee lent the plans to Bunnell and, with nothing more than a handshake and a smile to seal the deal, Bunnell set to work cranking out Lee’s chairs. That winter, Bunnell toiled away, building Lee’s chairs out of hemlock or basswood and staining them in green or medium dark brown. As soon as the Westport residents saw the new chairs, they snapped them up. Bunnell realized he had a huge seller on his hands and had to act fast. In early April of 1904 (and without asking for Lee’s permission) Bunnell filed for a patent (No. 794,777) on “his” new chair design naming it the Westport Plank Chair. We’re not sure how this affected his relationship with Lee, but we can guess Bunnell no longer stopped by to chat with his old hunting buddy. Harry Bunnell manufactured the Westport Plank Chair for the next twenty years putting his signature on each one.
Today, original signed Bunnell chairs are extremely sought after, and can fetch thousands at auction. The Classic American Summer Chair Over the years, artists, carpenters, and weekend craftsmen have all created their own interpretations of this classic design and over time, these slant-back, low-seated, wide arm-rested chairs became officially known as “ Adirondack” chairs. Nowadays, you can get them in all sorts of configurations: loungers, loveseats, rockers, and gliders. You’ll find them down at the beach, up in the mountains and everywhere else in between. Like baseball, fireworks, and trips to the shore, this chair is American summer. Orvis Adirondack Chairs: Variety, LMstyle and Comfort Orvis pays homage to the original Westport Plank Chair with our exclusive line of unique, Adirondack furniture. They’re all here, and now when you look at each one, you’ll be reminded of how one man during one hot summer in 1903 created the perfect way to relax. So the next time you’re comfortably installed in an Adirondack chair gazing off at the surf, the sea, the mountains, or the next-door neighbor, remember to raise a glass to Mr. Lee and Mr. Bunnell.
Because without them, summer wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable.This item is no longer available. You might also like Sign up to receive Orvis emails. Subscribe now and save $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more! This offer is valid for new subscribers only and will be sent to your email address shortly. We will refund your money on any purchase that isn’t 100% satisfactory. Anytime, for any reason. Company InfoAbout OrvisOrvis CareersPress RoomOrvis SchoolsProtecting NatureCoupons Customer ServiceOrder StatusShipping InformationReturns & ExchangesGeneral InformationInternational OrdersGift Card Balance Find an Orvis store near you. Orvis Commits 5% of pre-tax profits to protecting nature. Learn about our commitment “If we are to benefit from the use of our natural resources, we must be willing to act to preserve them.” – Perk Perkins, Chief Executive Officer, The Orvis Company Send Us An Email Visit Our FAQ Page
We value the opportunity to serve you, and would be happy to provide a custom price quote. Please complete this form and a member of the Adams team will contact you. Product of Interest * Please type the letters and numbers shown in the image. Check out answers to our most commonly asked questions using the link below. If your question is not included, please contact us and we'll be happy to provide an answer. [ MORE FAQS ] Can I order any of your products online? What exactly does Adams Manufacturing sell? Are your products really “Made in the USA?” What makes your products different? Is your furniture recyclable? Send Us an Email If you have questions or comments relating to our products or company, please feel free to email us using this form.Now that we've reached asphalt-melting temperatures in New York, it's time to start thinking about breezes skimming across lakes, icy tumblers full of Pimm's Cup, and the rustic luxury of a quiet hour spent in an Adirondack chair.
Which for me, design history nerd, means that it's also time to start thinking, what ARE Adirondack chairs anyway, and where did they come from? The first Adirondack chair was created by Thomas Lee around 1903. Lee was searching in vain for comfortable outdoor furniture for his country cottage in Westport, NY, which is near, you guessed it, the Adirondack mountain region of upstate New York, on the banks of Lake Champlain. According to legend, Lee created several prototypes for chairs made out of just eleven pieces of knot-free wood, all from the same tree. His family — all 22 of them — tested each chair, and ultimately decided upon the gentle recline and wide armrests of what we now know as the Adirondack chair.Lee had a hunting buddy, a local carpenter named Harry Bunnell, who was in need of some off-season income. Lee showed Bunnell the chair and encouraged him to start making them for the locals. Bunnell immediately saw the appeal of Lee's creation. Unbeknownst to Lee, he applied for a patent on the design, which he received in 1905.
Bunnell called them Westport Chairs, and he made out of hemlock or hickory, and sold them very profitably for the next twenty years. Lee never received any of the profit from Bunnell's savvy business decision, and there is no evidence that he sought any. Whether this is admirable or tragic is up for personal interpretation, though it is generally accepted that Bunnell essentially "stole" the design from Lee.In the ensuing 105 years, the chair has been adapted again and again. The back is often raked, made out of between 3 and 7 slats of wood instead of the single plank of the original Westport chair. One explanation for this is the difficulty of finding knot-free wood; a single slab of wood with knots and other irregularities is less comfortable than several slats of the same wood, and considerably more expensive. The chairs are typically now made out of pine and other inexpensive woods. Other variations include material. Design Within Reach, for example, constructs Loll's version out of 100% recycled polyethylene and stainless steel.
Despite these adaptations, Adirondack chairs are remarkably recognizable, and unflaggingly popular. Their endurance shouldn't be too much of a mystery: simple, comfortable and unpretentious. Although Thomas Lee created his chair supposedly out of a combination of necessity and economy of materials, there were obviously reasons why the typical late Victorian wrought iron or wicker garden furniture wouldn't do. His Adirondack chairs carry associations of a vernacular past, like a shared collective memory. In this way, they remind me of Gustav Stickley's Craftsman furniture from the same era (image 4), solid, hand-hewn wood furniture that evokes a folk aesthetic. The years around 1900 were ripe for that sort of folksy, handmade furniture, at least in part because the rate of modernization and urbanization had increased so profoundly that designers and consumers sought a material connection to the past.In our own era, the chairs' association with a vernacular past is compounded by their literally being artifacts from the vernacular past — funny how that works.