Sit Right Back

It occurred to me recently that I have not posted about the Westport chairs I built this past winter. This is a grievous mistake on my part. This is to enlighten you on the story.

We begin on the shores of Lake Champlain, near the small town of Westport, New York. There, at his summer home, a man named Tom Lee designed the original Westport Chair. The design featured the trademark slanted seat and back, as well as wide planks and armrests, useful for supporting drinks, food, ashtrays, books... whatever you wanted to enjoy whilst sitting and enjoying a perfect Adirondack summer morning or evening.

The chair has since evolved and spread to the point that nearly everyone in America is familiar with the Adirondack chair. It's made from every sort of material, and placed in yards everywhere, not just on the rocky shores of mountain lakes where it is so naturally at home. The patented plans can be found on the web, and there's even a twitter account. I know.

That man, Tom Lee, was my great-great Uncle. I have sat in chairs that were his original design on the very porch where he designed them. That summer home is still in my family.

Last summer, while on vacation there, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at building a couple of those original Westport chairs. Eschewing the bastardized Adirondack versions of the chair, I wanted to make a chair as close to the original as I could get. My Uncle found a pamphlet with directions for a Westport chair, sent me the plans, and I was on my way.

At the end of last summer, I was working here in NH on painting an old house. The owner was a really nice guy (in fact, he was the one who gave me my boat). He was so nice, that when I mentioned that I wanted to build some outdoor furniture, he offered to give me some wood he had sitting in his barn. I was ecstatic. He had milled some large and especially wide pine boards from a tree that had fallen on his property a couple years earlier. I knew it would be hard to find the requisite wide slats to really make a true Westport chair, and suddenly they had fallen into my lap. Best of all, they were free!

I used the basement woodworking shop of my girlfriend's brother-in-law, and over a few weeks in October and November, I made several chairs. They're not perfect, but I was very pleased with the results.

In November, I gave two of the chairs to my grandmother as an 80th birthday gift. In December, I gave two more to my parents for Christmas. It really felt great to be able to give such meaningful presents to my family.

I kept two chairs for myself. Here now, is one, still in unfinished (unstained) state in my back yard.

Note the solid slatted back. It's one board, as it should be. The arms are wide and contoured. Perfect for holding coffee mugs, or a glass of something stronger.

Below is the same chair with one coat of stain on it.

Finally, here are both of my chairs, stained and finished.

If you're interested in one... or more, I could be persuaded to build some more. I could possibly even give you a good price on it.