It started with a dream — the literal kind. Several years ago, designer, artist, musician and photographer John Houshmand suddenly began to dream incessantly about designing handcrafted wood furniture. “It got to the point where I always kept a notepad by my bed so I could track my ideas and designs with drawings,” Houshmand says.

With 30 designs in hand, Houshmand drove to his 850-acre farm in upstate New York and began to construct the pieces he had envisioned. “By spring of 2003 I had made about 40 pieces, which led me to develop my namesake company,” he says. Houshmand’s furniture designs gained public notice in late 2003, and were successfully launched by the time the collection showed at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in spring 2004.

However, Houshmand’s interest in craftsmanship truly began during his childhood halfway around the world.

Born of a Dutch-American mother and an Iranian father, he spent the majority of his youth abroad in the Philippines. There, Houshm¬and absorbed the philosophy of his post-World War II surroundings, which encouraged self-sufficiency and creativity.

“Even though we lived in the city, we were surrounded by nature, in a culturewhere people made everything with their hands because they didn’t have access to many American products,” Houshmand says. “I learned that if I wanted things, I could make them myself.” He returned to the United States for high school in the early 1970s and ultimately landed at Yale, where he explored art history, physics, astronomy, photography, sculpture and music — subjects as varied as his eclectic background.

“I dabbled in a number of areas because I was fascinated by the way everything interacted,” Houshmand says. “I found it interesting that, while listening to or composing music, I would visualize sculptures. It amazed me how one art form could stimulate another.”
After Yale, Houshmand’s appetite for artistic endeavors led him to New York, where he co-partnered as a builder with Clark Construction Corp., one of the top construction firms in Manhattan. His work there continued to encourage his love of building things, and his love of wood. “This was one of the many ‘connect-the-dots’ moments in my life that, combined with the rest, has led to my current design interest,” Houshmand says.

That current interest includes a passion for trees and the wood they produce. “In my designs, I typically use raw American hardwoods only, such as pine, black walnut, oak, mulberry, elm, ash and maple,” Houshmand says.
Of his design process, he says, “I allow myself to be extraordinarily receptive and respond to input that helps form what I want to create — instead of forcing my will upon something.”

Designs by Houshmand have received many prestigious awards, including House Beautiful’s “2005 Chrysler Product Design Winner” and House & Garden’s “2005 Tastemaker.” Houshmand also created the walnut bar and front door of one of New York’s hottest restaurants, Nobu 57.

Houshmand’s furniture can be purchased through the John Houshmand showroom in New York, and the Holly Hunt showrooms in Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles. He also plans to exhibit his pieces at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2006.

For more information on Houshmand or to purchase one of his designs, visit his website at www.johnhoushmand.com or call 212/965-1238. Or, call Holly Hunt in Miami at 305/571-2012, or visit www.hollyhunt.com.