Receive a very special Eames LTR table as the gift when you join the Eames Foundation as a Eucalyptus Member. This limited run LTR features a solid top made from eucalyptus trees harvested from the Eames House site under our landscape management plan. Repurposing the wood from these beloved trees, as Herman Miller and Vitra have done, is an especially-appropriate honoring of Charles and Ray’s respect for good material and the environment.
This special top came from the tree at the far right next to the swing tree, the Eameses’ favorite place for visitors to sit and look at the house.
The Eameses loved the eucalyptus trees on the site of the Eames House. Planted in the 1880s by Abbott Kinney as part of a forestry experiment to yield lumber, the trees had already grown into allées—beautiful lines of towering wood.
Charles and Ray loved the trees so much that they chose not to build the original design for their home, the Bridge House by Charles and Eero Saarinen. They hoped to avoid doing what so many architects regret: destroying what they love most about a site by building right on top of it. They didn’t want to bisect the meadow, and importantly, they did not want to cut down even a few of the trees.
Instead, Charles and Ray reconfigured the steel and glass to build the iconic home that we see today: A home that reflects the trees, doubling their number. A home with tallowwood lining the length of its back wall—a hardy type of eucalyptus commonly used in the 1940s and ’50s as flooring for skating rinks or auditoriums. When Charles and Ray returned from a long day at the office, they often paused to inhale the scent of eucalyptus and smile, rejuvenated.
Through the years, the Eameses allowed a few volunteer trees to grow from seeds dropped by the giants. The idea was that the younger trees would be in place when their progenitors failed. They recognized that landscapes are living entities with cycles of life.
In 2014, the Getty Conservation Institute funded a study of the site’s trees. An arborist analyzed their Safe Useful Life Expectancy (SULE) and identified a list of high-risk trees that needed to be removed. It was a painful discovery. The thought of clearing trees from the site saddened us, especially when we remembered the picnics, flower arranging, and film shoots Charles and Ray had enjoyed under their canopies.
Our decision to remove the first of these trees was made easier by a collaboration between founding sponsors Herman Miller, Vitra, and the Eames Office, to repurpose the wood into a timeless design. It is a beautiful expression of “Good Goods.”
This newest Eames LTR showcases wood tops from Eucalyptus trees harvested from the site. Herman Miller and Vitra have each donated 25 tables to the Eames Foundation for use as a fundraiser in support of our 250-year conservation plan for the Eames House. Critically, in light of last year’s horrific fires and mudslides—located frighteningly close, we are raising funds to create our Master Plan of Work, so that we may focus on reducing fire and hillside stability risks.
Please support us by joining our Eucalyptus Membership, and receive a limited edition Eames Eucalyptus LTR table!
