I never thought of myself as a fan of mid century modern style, but then I opened a reuse store. Coming home to a house that has clean lines, minimalist design, and less clutter is helpful for a mind that works in organized chaos. Our deconstruction team recently set out to save materials at the Eames Institute which is remodeling the interior of their beautiful ranch. I drove out there on an early autumn morning and the rolling hills of Petaluma were still golden and gorgeous.
I found our crew busy at work deinstalling a bathroom. Brandon took a few minutes from the project to give me a tour of our work, the materials we were bringing back and the treasure that is the Eames Ranch. The main building is placed midway up a canyon providing a sweeping view of the valley. The acoustics of the location were not lost on me as I exited the south facing section of the building to the sound of coyotes singing in the creek below.
Commercial projects are fairly uncommon for GreenLynx, and thus they can be quite exciting. This particular site is more of a ranch property than a typical commercial building, and has design elements that do not disappoint. The facility was designed by William Turnbull, who designed the historic “Baker House” at Sea Ranch. While the Eames Ranch main building does not incorporate the classic Sea Ranch gray redwood siding, its barn style is accentuated by the 2 open square atriums at the east and west buildings. The square in center of the building is an open air atrium, with birds in the process of building nests in the wisteria vines.
On the day that I arrived on site, the Eames team had already removed their mid century furniture into storage. While disappointed to miss out on their furniture displays, it will be extraordinary to see their collection in the context of the new remodel. We have had the pleasure of working with Eames Herman Miller furniture before during projects at Clorox, Google and Oracle. It was a joy to give away functional and beautiful furniture to deserving nonprofits.
The materials in the Eames Institute we identified for reuse included some beautiful vertical grain fir, heavy duty and high design shelving, and of course typical bathroom fixtures. After our team began removing the items, the Institute changed their mind and decided to keep a lot of the fixtures and finishes. That is what our team does for a living: we identify value in old things, and preserve them. It is rare that a client notices this value so easily and we were thrilled to keep those pieces on site.
We’ll be returning for windows and huge sliding glass doors in the Spring after the rains stop. Come check out our store for remaining pieces in stock from our initial work at the Institute.