A little less than 2 years ago my dad signed us both up for a class offered through UC Riverside called "A Day with Sam Maloof". It was a birthday present to me and what a great birthday present it was! For those who don't know, Sam Maloof is known as one of the finest woodworkers/furniture makers of our time and a leader of the California modern arts movement. If you have never seen his furniture you must check it out, it's really beautiful! So this class was to be taught by the master himself in his workshop which is located on the property of his home in Alta Loma, California. There are two homes on the property, the newer home where Sam's wife still lives and Sam's old home where he lived with his first wife. You can tour the old home and see Sam and his wife's art collection and a lot of his original furniture pieces, I wanted to take everything home with me! Sadly Sam had fallen ill and was unable to teach the class so one of his woodworking partners filled in. We were really disappointed that Sam wasn't going to teach the class but his partner did a really excellent job and we were happy we still attended! We got to tour the workshop and learn about many of the woodworking techniques Sam used, it was a fantastic experience! Sam and his wife were very kind and invited us all over to the house so we could still meet Sam and what a honer it was! Sadly Sam passed away just a few months later but he has left behind some truly beautiful art pieces. If you are ever in the area I highly encourage you to go tour his house. Here is a link to the Sam Mallof Foundation where you can get more info
http://www.malooffoundation.org/
After the class was over we got to tour the grounds and the old house which houses many of Sam's furniture and art collection. I was so upset with myself because I forgot my camera. All I had was my cell phone and the camera on it is terrible. So I'm going to apologize now for the terrible, low quality images that are to follow but I wanted to share anyways.
A wooden gate on the property made by Sam Maloof.
Sam and his wife were huge art collectors. There was beautiful pottery everywhere I looked!
A Sam Maloof chair, beautiful isn't it? Sorry for the terrible photo, this chair deserves better.
More of Sam and his wife's art collection.
I'm so in love with this stain glass window!
I'll take one of these please!
Amazing pottery collection
Another wonderful cell phone photo, gotta love that poor quality. This is one of Sam Maloof's famous rocking chairs.
Beautiful wood carved spiral staircase.
This is one of my favorite chairs.
The gardens on the property are really beautiful too, well worth taking the time to walk though. They appear to use mostly drought tolerant plants.
This made me swoon. I'm hoping to do something similar in our backyard one of these days.
Wood carving that sits in the garden.
