What You're Paying For

People are sometimes surprised that a chair from 1975 costs more than a new one. Fair question. Here's the honest breakdown.

Materials you can't buy anymore. Old-growth walnut, thick-cut veneers, real leather tanned slowly. A lot of what made mid-century furniture good was the raw material, and much of it simply isn't produced at that quality now — at any price.

Construction. Joinery instead of staples, hardwood frames instead of engineered board, eight-way hand-tied springs instead of foam blocks. This is why a fifty-year-old frame can be restored at all. Most new sofas won't see their fifteenth birthday.

Restoration done right. Reupholstery in serious fabric, rewiring to modern code, finish work that respects the original surface instead of erasing it. That labor is skilled and slow, and it's in the price.

The finding. Every piece in the shop was pulled from somewhere — an estate, a trade contact, a warehouse in another state — inspected in person, and chosen over dozens that didn't make the cut. You're paying for the filter.

What you're not paying for: a brand markup, a showroom lease in a design district, or a sales commission. The price is the price.