At 93, famed furniture artist Sam Maloof certainly has earned a good rest. Instead, he continues to operate a thriving four-man furniture studio, crafting pieces for clients who have to wait at least six years for delivery. Not so long ago, Maloof remembers clients in their 70s asking him, “Will I get my furniture before I die?” More recently, he says, “They ask, ‘Will I get my furniture before you die?’”
In an effort to make sure they do,
Maloof is in the shop nearly every
day. And while he may now need a
little help lifting heavy boards,
he still supplies the creative vision, organizational guidance and much of the hands-on touch needed in the shop.
Maloof's work commands as much as $250,000 at auction, and his pieces are on display at the Smithsonian, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Boston Museum of Art. He is the first and only woodworker to have won a MacArthur fellowship – the so-called “genius grants.” But Maloof came to woodworking at an unusually advanced age. In his 30s, newly married, virtually broke, and in need of furniture for his new home in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., he designed and built the furniture himself.
That original house where he and first wife Alfreda Ward Maloof lived for five decades — until her death in
Clients used to ask, “Will
I get my furniture before
I die?” More recently,
Maloof says, “They ask,
‘Will I get my furniture
before you die?’”
1998 — is now a museum run by the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, preserving the couple’s legacy and fostering California arts and crafts.
Oddly, the house no longer is in Rancho Cucamonga. When an Interstate highway was routed through the Maloof homestead in 2000, the state of California moved the structure to Alta Loma, declaring the new property a historic landmark (the original home qualified for the National Register of Historic Places in 1990). The state even built a new home on the site, where Sam and his second wife, Beverly, now reside.
Living room, living history — Left, the Maloof living room is crowded with furniture and artifacts that Sam has either created or collected over the years.
Helping hands — Above, Maloof works with Mike Johnson to fine-tune a table under construction in the shop. Johnson, 50, has been working with Maloof for more than 25 years.
Maloof’s designs were featured in House Beautiful magazine, catching the eye of industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. The wealthy and influential Dreyfuss commissioned Maloof to design all the furniture for his house. There was no looking back.
Maloof has become famous for infusing high art into functional
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