Midcentury Cool With a Killer View at Salt Lake City
It says a lot about your style when you can rent pieces to production companies to use in films. That’s true for self-taught designer Ron Green, who owns a midcentury modern furniture shop called The Green Ant. Just like a big-budget film, the authentic vintage furniture set within his Salt Lake City home reads like an all-star throw — original Saarinen, Noguchi, Eames and other pieces make regular appearances.
And Green’s preference for the golden era of design doesn’t finish at the Womb chair he plops down in at the end of the day or the Noguchi coffee table that he lays on his drink. The remainder of his 1965 flat-roof home is affected by the period too, right down to the vintage light fixtures and exterior paint job, which was affected by the 1959 case study Bailey House by Pierre Koenig.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Ron Green along with his bulldog, Hana
Location: Capital Hill area of Salt Lake City
Size: 2,800 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
That’s intriguing: Thehouse was rented out for use in the Danny Boyle film 127 Hours,starringJames Franco. “They took out all of my furniture, replaced it with inexpensive stuff and painted the entire living room sour,” Green says. “I had to live that way for three weeks.”
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The home was in great shape when Green moved in, but he made some adjustments to match his style. By way of example, he tore out the newer Victorian-style mantel and ’80s-recalling tile hearth and replaced it with a sleeker design.
Green also removed all of the present Home Depot light fixtures and replaced them with vintage ones.
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“Obviously I’ve a passion for midcentury modern design, and that is where my style stems from,” says Green. “I prefer white walls with neutral-colored furniture then bring color into the room through art I have collected over the years.”
Green bought the set of brown vintage Womb chairs by Eero Saarinen from a comparative of his dentist and had them reupholstered. ” [My upholsterer] could refoam them, however there was a catch,” he says. “Initially, these were tacked together and not stapled, as staplers didn’t exist yet for upholstery. I asked my upholsterer if he would tack them back together instead of stapling them. He looked at me and just smiled — he said he probably would not do it.”
The three-panel flooring sculpture was a lucky find via a local online advertisement. “I got it from the grandson of the original owner, who bought it in London,” Green says. “It is a really cool bit from 1965 — the same year as my residence.”
Chairs: Womb by Eero Saarinen for Knoll, circa 1960s
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When Hana is not lounging in her favourite spot in the home here, she could be found in Green’s shop playing with her toy skateboard.
A friend discovered the Noguchi cable side table in a thrift shop and marketed it to Green.
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Green replaced both stained glass windows by the front door with period-looking glass.
Rocker: Charles Eames for Herman Miller, circa 1950, online auction
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Even the tiniest details, like the things on screen atop this Eames storage unit in the entry, follow the midcentury aesthetic. Green found almost every one of the pieces locally except with this storage unit, which he acquired on a trade with a dealer in Los Angeles.
Storage: ESU by Charles Eames for Herman Miller
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Green’s biggest design challenge was deciding which furniture to utilize and to shop, because all of the furniture was sourced either through or for his store. “I get to sip the cream off the milk, so to speak,” he says.
The 1960s Isamu Noguchi coffee table originated from an older woman who returned to Salt Lake City after her husband died. “They lived in NYC in the ’60s and ’70s and’d bought some amazing pieces during this period. I received this woman’s name and number from a friend of mine, but she was not quite prepared to market when I phoned her.”
A year after the girl called Green and he bought the dining table, along with an original red leather Eames couch and ottoman, a rosewood Vladimir Kagan apparel, a Mies van der Rohe daybed, a set of Bertoia diamond chairs, a rosewood Warren Platner credenza and lounge chair, along with other great midcentury pieces.
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Among the more intriguing things about Green’s home is how open it is. “I actually enjoy I can see all of the way from the back of the kitchen to the deck along with the city view outside,” he says. The intentional seating installation divides the open room and brings the eye toward the deck along with its own view.
Sofa: Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, circa 1960s, Salvation Army; coffee table: Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller, circa 1960s
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The Milo Baughman sofa and rosewood sofa table were equally serendipitous finds in a local Salvation Army. “I saw that this sectional piled in a humorous way, so that I didn’t recognize it at first but thought it was cool,” says Green. “The man working said a sofa table came with it. After he wheeled it from the trunk I could tell instantly from 80 feet away it was a Milo Baughman design. I swung around and watched the base of the sectional and recognized it was a Baughman design too.” Green snatched it up immediately in a deep discount. “I think I smiled ear to ear the entire day,” he says.
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Just like a director creating on-screen chemistry, Green had to have fun with the inside layout to get the setting just right. 1 area in particular stumped him, so he asked an interior designer friend to get assistance. “We ended up switching the Platner coffee table and Noguchi side table around,” he says. “We put the Warren Platner under the window along with the little Noguchi side table between the Womb chairs. A very easy thing now that I look back, but it changed the feel of the room radically. I finally believed it was balanced”
Table: glass and cable, Warren Platner for Knoll; chairs: bronze, Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, circa 1970s
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Green created various sitting areas within the open-plan principal living area. The Eames molded plywood LCW chair on the left (first year of generation) is one of his favourite pieces. He even uses the iconic shape as his store’s logo, and has it tattooed on his arm.
Chairs: Plywood LCW by Charles Eames for Herman Miller, circa 1940s; table: Tulip with Eero Saarinen for Knoll
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“I looked for approximately four or five years to get a dining table that I adored,” Green says. “It was on a home call where an older gentleman was getting remarried and downsizing that I watched a rosewood Flip Flap Dyrlund table to the first time. Plus it was with a pair of eight rosewood Moller dining chairs. The expression ‘love at first sight’ was an understatement in this case!”
Table: Dyrlund; chairs: Rosewood by Moller; buffet: Rosewood by Ib Kofod-Larsen
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Green left his kitchenremodeled by the previous homeowner, white and easy, as he prefers to include distinct thoughtful components to give it life.
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This deck is Green’s preferred spot; it’s where he enjoys a perfect view of the hills on one side along with the Utah capitol on the other. “I love sitting out looking out in the hills while getting my morning coffee,” he says. Oftentimes Green will decide to have a party on his deck and will text as many people as he could a few hours before. Occasionally he gets as few as 12, and other times he gets over 60.
Side table: Tulip by Eero Saarinen for Knoll; marble-top table: La Fonda by Charles Eames for Herman Miller
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The mild exterior paint with dark trimming was affected by Pierre Koenig’s 1959 case study Bailey House. “I think my house really felt like mine when I had people over for cocktails and could see my friends enjoying my area,” Green says. “I could tell they liked my house just as far as I do.”