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A first look at renowned architect Bobby McAlpine’s new furniture collection for Mary Prillaman Holland’s MacRae showroom
BY
Interview by Heather J. Paper
PHOTOGRAPHY
Steve Pomberg
PRODUCED BY
Clinton Smith


MacRae owner Mary Prillaman Holland perches on some of the new pieces from a collection of furniture designed by renowned architect Bobby McAlpine that will be featured in her Atlanta showroom.

THE PIECES
The William & Mary cabinet “is really approachable, with a low center of gravity and a large single door,” says McAlpine. “It’s like a huge flag, so the piece can be really successful with the door left wide open.” Likewise, the cabriole-leg highboy is “such a classic that I wanted to reinvent it,” he explains. “I wanted to get the ‘grandmother’ out of it, to send it in another direction. So we gave it ‘hip pockets’ that slide out. And the piece can be staged beautifully; the top opens up to create a [vertical] backdrop against which you could stage tureens.”

And then there’s the Dog Console. The inspiration is distinctly Directoire, but there’s a McAlpine twist here, too. “I’m not sure anybody’s ever really known what to do with the low shelf,” he says, “so we’ve added a linen mattress—the perfect place for a dog.”

This console, says Holland, is the perfect example of what makes McAlpine’s work so unique. “Here you have a sophisticated piece, but it’s so usable, too. It’s brilliant.”

Even the most highly regarded design talents have their own heroes in the field. Take Mary Prillaman Holland, for instance. A fine furniture designer in her own right, the owner of MacRae looks to Bobby McAlpine with admiration that borders on awe. So when she decided to add a new line to her company’s collection, Holland crossed her fingers and approached the venerable architectural designer.

“I’ve always loved and respected his work; it’s so sophisticated and has a ‘Southerness’ to it,” says Holland. “And it’s been a dream of mine to work with him.”

It didn’t take long for McAlpine to make her dreams come true. Holland drove to Montgomery, Alabama, where the two briefly discussed what they envisioned. “He liked the fact that [MacRae] is a bench-made product,” she says. “I think that resonated with him. He wanted pieces that looked handmade and aged over time.”

“I’ve designed furniture, for different reasons, for over 25 years—mostly to solve problems,” adds McAlpine. “When Mary called to see if I’d be interested in doing a line of furniture, I knew quality was there. She was open to creating a new bloodline of English reproductions. I really embraced the idea because those kinds of pieces have the potential to be so much more inheritable, more valuable over time.”

And, with that, the McAlpine Home collection was born. “I was humbled,” admits Holland. “I had to pinch myself the whole way back to Atlanta.”

Thirteen pieces will make up the initial to-the-trade offering, available as of November 1. And each epitomizes McAlpine’s signature style. “The collection has definite historical reference and reverence—and irreverence in execution,” he says. “We looked to pieces that could stand reinterpretation, like highboys and chests-on-stands, going back to their beautiful proportions but expanding on them a little bit. And we’ve broken some rules along the way; we left off hardware and ‘animated’ some pieces so they open in unexpected ways. In a lot of cases, the furniture looks like it has morphed with the crate it arrived in!”

The McAlpine Home collection will be available in November through MacRae, 345 Peachtree Hills Ave. NE, Suite 300, Atanta, 30305, (404) 962-2723; macraedesigns.com