Coastal Style Sisal Rugs

Today we are introducing Parquet sisal rugs. This series is part of our Structure collection which feature patterns formed by the structure of the weave itself. Our programmers just finished adding it to the site last night -just in time!

I think this weave will be a hit with designers. Its a tightly woven flat weave which is more comfortable underfoot than a traditional Bouclé. The woven-in design appears to change its pattern as you move around the room. To me, the rugs look best when viewed at about 45 degrees -which is about what you get when you are sitting on a chair or couch.

We haven’t got the photography quite right on this series yet, but we had to get it on the site. Here’s a preliminary photo of Parquet in Arles Blue. It is presented bound in Pigskin Nubuck in Mediterranean Blue. The border is applied to show 2 inches on face. Our leather borders are applied with a top-stitch in a color-matched thread with hand-sewn mitered corners. The weave is backed with latex, and no further padding is required.

Here are the particulars:

This series is woven for us in Belgium of East African Sisal using the Katani Bora® sisal spinning system -in short, you can’t find a sisal of higher quality on the web. The rug is available in five colors:

• Arles Blue
• Black
• Nutmeg
• Roman Grey
• Spring Green

The intricate design is a parquet which is woven on a Jacquard style loom. These are expensive looms designed to produce geometric patterns by carefully lifting individual warp hooks (called “bolus” Hooks) thereby allowing the weft to pass either below or above the warp threads creating the pattern. Warp threads run lengthwise through the rugs, and weft threads run from side to side (or selvege to selvege -if you want to get technical!) 

I think this weave will get a great reception from interior design professionals. It has that great natural feel wrapped in a sophisticated weave pattern.  It is available as broadloom or as a custom bound rug with a quick lead time of only 2-3 weeks. This is not a weave that you can get at a big box retailer!

Yesterday was beautiful with crisp, clear September skies and temperatures in the low 70’s. My daughter had a half day of school, and so I quietly slipped out of the office at lunchtime with no intention of returning. Kate, her friend Kori, and I set out in our dinghy for a little expedition. We covered quite a bit of water, eventually deciding to go explore the Wood Island Life Boat Station at the mouth of the Piscataqua river.

The station was built in 1908, and commissioned in 1909. It was operated by the US Life Saving Service until 1915 when the service was disbanded and replaced by the US Coast Guard. The Coast Guard continued operations there until 1941 -at which point it was abandoned. The building is boarded up, but still fairly open to weather.

Years ago, I beached there in my kayak, and snuck inside to take a peek. The inside was completely rotted out, and finding solid footing was difficult. Basically, you stayed close to the walls, and tested everything before giving it your full weight. I climbed the stairs to the second floor on the stringers as the treads had completely rotted away. The structure was unsound -still, though, you could sense the purposefulness of the place, and the hardships these men must have faced.

The station is located on an island off of Kittery, Maine (I’d like to consider it in Portsmouth, but it is on the wrong side of the river), and stands behind Whaleback Light on its own islet. When it was built, it housed the Station Keeper and six regular Surfmen with a Winterman added from December through April.

The station itself is similar to a Cape style house with attached garage (and a viewing tower). On the first floor was the Keepers bedroom, the Station office, a kitchen and dining room. On the second floor were the Surfmen’s sleeping quarters, and from there was access to a watch tower. The attached garage is a two bay boat house with a marine railway that would hold the stations two lifeboats.

(Old Picture of the river side of the station. note the marine railway ramp leading to the water from the “garage”.)

The lifeboats were about 30 feet in length, and when needed the boats were rolled directly into the water on the railway. They rarely had to rescue people on calm days, and these boats were built to survive the worst conditions. They had watertight compartments, self-bailing tubes to drain the boat, and iron keels which brought their weight to nearly 2 tons. The design allowed the boats to be self-righting, which helps when you are ina rowboat crashing through waves that just wrecked a ship.

Wood Island is one of those cool sights that you see here in New England every day, and nine times out of ten, completely ignore. Hopefully this site will be preserved to remind us of the past. I am not a big fan of turning every historical structure into a museum with caretakers in period garb, and I’d hate to see the Station go this way. It needs something more akin to an outward bound camp where the station and the boats are actively used and appreciated.

for more information, check out:

USCG Search and Rescue
Portsmouth Public Library

At first, I flat out refused to become a blogger. It seems like the sole purpose of most company blogs is to write bad promotional copy.

I’ll probably end up doing a bit of that too - but hopefully the posts will at least be accurate and informative. I am hoping to include information about the Seacoast area of New Hampshire where I’ve been living for the past decade. I have been slow in picking up on all the great things that surround me, and each year I feel more and more lucky to be here. I’ll try to show you what I mean.

Jim Homet