
b. 1927 d. 2020
Site Affiliation: LongHouse Reserve
Jack Lenor Larsen was one of the world’s foremost advocates of traditional and contemporary crafts. In addition to LongHouse, he was associated with numerous schools and arts centers, including Cranbrook and the Haystack Mountain School.
Born and raised in Seattle, Larsen moved to New York after graduating from the University of Washington. He founded his own company in 1952, amassing a clientele that included Marcel Breuer, Dansk, Mikasa, and Pan Am and Braniff airlines, to name just a few.
He began visiting the Hamptons in the 1950’s and initially acquired a 10-acre property where he built Round House, its shape based on Ndebele huts Larsen had seen in South Africa. He acquired the 16-acre LongHouse property in 1975, began working on the gardens, built the house beginning in 1986, and opened the property to the public in 1992.
Primary Medium: Textile designer, collector, author, and self-taught gardener and landscape designer
Primary Stylistic Term: Modernist, International, with a strong Asian influence
HAHS Affiliations: Larsen was friends with Sam Maloof, and textiles by Larsen are in the collection at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation. Furniture by Wharton Esherick is in the collection at LongHouse. Mabel and Victor D’Amico were also friends of Larsen’s.
Fun Fact: A child of the Great Depression, throughout his life Larsen was frugal and pragmatic, practicing recycling and upcycling before the words were part of the vernacular. The Dunes, for example, were created from dirt excavated to create the foundation for the house; the Amphitheatre was created from dirt excavated to create Peter’s Pond, named for Larsen’s long-time companion.
Recommended Publications: Learning from LongHouse by Jack Lenor Larsen; A Weaver’s Memoir by Jack Lenor Larsen; Jack Lenor Larsen’s LongHouse Reserve by Molly Chappellet