Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts

ABOUT

Woodworker Sam Maloof is best-known for creating elegantly shaped and sculpted California Modern art furniture, but his hand-made home is perhaps his most extraordinary work of art. In a visit to the Maloof, one sees the work of a celebrated American craftsman, and experiences his mastery of light, color, and materials that create a beautiful, serene and inspirational residential environment. Visitors discover Maloof’s own work and the wonderful art collections, the Water Wise Discovery gardens, and the natural landscape that inspired his greatest work.

SPECIAL RESOURCES

“My environment is a beautiful one, but again, it is something that was created by hand. The making of it is even more satisfying than sitting back and enjoying the finished project.”

— Sam Maloof

Sam Maloof (1916–2009)

The son of Lebanese immigrants, Sam Maloof was born in 1916 in Chino, California, and educated in the local public schools. Self-taught in woodworking and proud of his craft, Sam built his career at a time when California’s reputation for creativity, innovation and great possibilities allowed a young man to follow a passion for woodworking to the heights of national and international acclaim.

Alfreda Ward Maloof (1911–1998)

Alfreda Ward Maloof, an artist, teacher and former Director of Arts and Crafts at the Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1938-1941, met Sam Maloof while taking postgraduate classes at Scripps College. They got married on June 19, 1948. She inspired Sam in his work and managed the Maloof woodworking business until her death in 1998.

_{A Maloof Rocking Chair. Credit: Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.}

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Sam Maloof’s hand-made residence grew as his reputation and resources grew. During the family’s half-century of occupancy, the house evolved into an amazing showpiece befitting a celebrated artist. In addition to making his own art, Sam stood at the center of a robust community of Pomona Valley artists, whose works were bought, traded and/or collected among themselves, making the Maloof Collection into an extensive repository of California modern art works in wood, ceramics, fiber, paintings and other media.

Central to Sam’s work and life is the sprawling hand-built residence and adjoining woodshop. Nestled in a lemon grove near the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California, the residence is filled with Maloof furniture and many examples of later 20th Century American outstanding arts and crafts.

Saved from the path of an interstate highway project, the landmark house was relocated and painstakingly reassembled at its present site, where it now stands protected in perpetuity. Today visitors experience serene and colorful surroundings that are virtually unchanged from when the artist and his family were in residence. The contents of the home, including paintings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and many fine examples of Sam’s celebrated furniture, shed light on the journey of an artist who pursued his dreams with imagination and passion.

Central to Sam’s work and life is the sprawling hand-built residence and adjoining woodshop. Nestled in a lemon grove near the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California, the residence is filled with Maloof furniture and many examples of later 20th Century American outstanding arts and crafts.

IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL TRUST