Archive for February, 2009
Obamas Buy Antique Bed from Local Store Owner
By Jenna Gaillard - Published in Westport News
jgaillard@bcnnevy.com
Jeff Jenkins, the owner of Leonards New England, received the call of a lifetime last Thursday when Obama decorator Michael Smith phoned him to finalize the purchase of an antique king-size bed for the White House.
“We’re proud of the fact that one of our beds is going to the White House,” said Patty Jaumin, store manager of Leonards New England in Westport. “We’re thrilled.”
The antique bed acquired by Smith was delivered last Friday and was purchased from the Leonards New England store in Seekonk Mass. According to Jaumin, the Leonards New England store in Westport has beds similar to the one Smith purchased for the Obamas in their inventory. Jaumin said she couldn’t reveal how much the bed cost and she doesn’t know where it will go in the White House or who it’s for.
According to a press release, the American antique tall post bed was “adapted to king-size from bedposts that were fashioned from tiger maple in New Jersey or Pennsylvania in the early 19th century,” All bf the work done on the bed was completed in a workshop in Massachusetts. That work done included making the bed wider and longer, as well as creating a new headboard and new side rails. Now, according to Jaumin, the bed is a “standard king-size bed.”
“We’re known for a variety of antiques and specifically our beds and our full line of reproduction furniture,” said Jaumin.
According to the store’s catalog, it’s also known for its ability to “customize pre-1850 antique beds., making them comfortable for modern-day use.” In order to transforn1 a bed, the firm’s craftsmen “take the side rails with peg or rope holes and refit them as cross rails, running east and west,” and try to save as much of the old bed as possible. Finally, a headboard is created using ,wood that matches the posts.
“We have skilled craftsmen who make the reproduction beds and resize the ,antique beds,” said Jaumin.
Leonards New England has been around for 75 years. Soon after the store’s opening in 1933, it gained a reputation as a workshop that could restore different types of antique furniture and resize beds. The store first opened in seekonk. In 1990, Jenkins opened a second store in Westport.
According to Jaumin, Leonards New England has had some famous clients purchase items through a decorator from the store, including Steven Spielberg, Julia Roberts and Bill Cosby.
Leonards New England is located at 1026 Post Road E. in Westport.
A Fine American, White House-Bound
“We know it’s going into the private residence of the White House,” said Jeff Jenkins, owner of Leonards New England, a 75-year-old antique furniture business. He was referring to the king-size four-poster bed made from tiger’s eye maple that he delivered to a warehouse in Maryland last week. Leonards, which has stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts, sells American antique beds, along with reproductions and “adaptations” like this one, above, which was created from early-19th-century bedposts, left.
Mr. Jenkins reported that the bed was ordered by Michael Smith, the decorator hired by the Obamas to put their mark on the president’s house. “He asked for something light — casual but sophisticated,” Mr. Jenkins said. “He said it’s for the residence at the White House, but he didn’t say specifically” if it was for the Obamas themselves. “I can’t speculate,” Mr. Jenkins added. “That wouldn’t be cool.” He did not disclose the price, but said his beds range from $1,000 to $10,000.
After examining an image of the bed, above, that Mr. Jenkins sent, Leslie Keno, director of the American Furniture and Decorative Arts Department at Sotheby’s, noted that “it’s hard to appraise just from a picture,” but added, “It’s a Pennsylvania-style bed, so I’m really excited to see that the Obamas appreciate American craftsmanship.”
Mr. Smith’s office would not confirm the bed’s purchase, and the White House did not respond to queries.