Huston and Company

Saer Huston graduated from Waynflete School, an independent school in Portland, in 1997. There he was encouraged to participate in the arts, in all mediums and to use art as a form of self expression.

“Waynflete's commitment to the arts is both substantial and unique, and springs from the belief that all students possess the ability to express themselves and to respond to the expressions of others.” www.waynflete.org

With this creative platform, he went on to the College of the Atlantic where he pursued art more feverishly and honed his skills further as an artist. In 2005, Saer came to join his father at Huston & Company, working in the shop building furniture and then very shortly after that, trying his hand at furniture design.

“For me, design comes from a conscious and critical observation of the world; from focusing on every detail while not losing perspective on the whole.” Saer Huston

The first of Saer’s furniture designs were the Balance Coffee and Console Tables. These designs immediately found their place in the Huston & Company showroom and catalog and have been very popular with customers. They are purchased directly from our showroom floor (I call that “furniture love at first sight”) more often than any other piece in our catalog.

Saer was recently invited to display some of his artwork in an exhibition of works by Waynflete Alumni. He jumped at the chance and after contemplating his various completed works of art, he chose the Balance tables as his submission. Full Circle.

The exhibition, “An Artful Life” includes the works of artists in all mediums: “Alumni who work in performing, literary, and visual arts, as well as art historians and curators are encouraged to participate.” www.waynflete.org

The show is comprised of a vast array of wonderful and surprising works. There are videos, musical performances, clips of acting sequences, wall hangings, paintings, jewelry, sculpture and so many others. The alumni who participated have settled in all parts of the U.S. and range in age from “graduated 2011” to “graduated 1946”. The show will be open in the Waynflete Gallery, located in the Arts Center, until January 27. If you are in Portland, stop in.

Jason Jackson has been finishing our furniture for thirteen years now. He’s worked in 9 shops during that time. Nine. He recalled them all for us recently during a “pie break” one afternoon in the workshop. Each finishing shop had its special little memory: no heat for weeks, rats as big as cats hanging around outside near the dumpster, freight elevators that were likely to close on you and cut you off at the knees if you weren’t careful. That was in the early days when Jason was self-employed and finished furniture for other craftsman along with the Huston pieces. Three years ago, Jason became a full time employee of Huston & Company, finishing our furniture exclusively. The finishing shops have gotten progressively better since then. At the last shop, which Jason shared with a millwork business, Jason’s biggest complaint was the country music.

This year, Bill decided it made the most sense to have our own finishing shop; not to pay rent, lease space, share space, etc. He has been hard at work for several months making all the arrangements, signing contracts, procuring equipment and getting permits and inspections for our new shop. It’s very exciting to have a new finishing shop, brand new, all our own. Especially for Jason. Now he has his very own space in which to work his magic. He has his acoustics set up to blast out his own music, and has already found the perfect spot for his boots.

The shop, located just off Route 1 in Biddeford, was built in a space portioned off of a large, industrial warehouse which is used to store boats in the off-season. It has a huge overhead door so we can pull our van right inside to load and unload. We no longer have to worry about ‘weathah’ when loading and unloading.

Inside, the shop is complete with all the necessary and practical ventilation and climate controls. No more temperature fluctuations. No more overwhelming fumes. And, it’s legal (isn’t that good news).  It’s been inspected and approved, up to code and up to snuff. The spray booth was carefully chosen to suit our needs perfectly. I’d never seen a new, unused spray booth before. It looks rather space-aged to me. I can't help thinking that if I stand in it long enough, I might disappear and re-appear somewhere else as a teeny tiny candy bar.

The shop itself is large, spacious. We can easily fit several loads of furniture there to await finishing, which relieves some strain on our workshop storage space in Kennebunkport. This is good for those huge library and academic projects that we’re working on.

Another beautiful thing about the new finishing shop is that others could use it too. That’s right. We know (boy, do we know) that there aren’t too many spray booths or finishing shops in our region that are accessible, and not everyone has the wherewithal to create their own. So yes, we’ll work with you if you need some finishing done, or need to use a spray booth to do your own.* And sure, spread the word. There’s room to share.

   *Please contact Bill Huston at Huston & Company to discuss use of our finishing space.

In 1996, Huston & Company received the first of many orders of furniture from Princeton University. It was an order of office furniture for the President’s Office: desk with return, meeting table, printer stand and a monitor platform. 

Since then, we have taken so many orders from Princeton that they have their own dedicated file drawer in my office. Recently, Bill and Saer were on campus to deliver and install another order; this time, a custom reception desk for the architectural school library.

While visiting, the boys found some time to walk much of the campus – a lovely place to be on a warm, fall day. As they walked, they found themselves visiting some of the sites where Huston & Company furniture has been installed over the years, and they took some informal photos. I’ve added a couple more here as well. And even this doesn’t come close to being a complete record of our work there.

Butler Hall - Visiting Faculty Apartment

Clio Hall - Admissions

Clio Hall - Admissions

Hamilton Hall - Occassional Tables

Lewis Hall - Foyer Table

Marx Hall - Storage Cases

Marx Hall - Conference Table

Music School Library - Work Tables

 Whitman Hall - Residence Hall Gathering Table

Whitman Hall - Dining Hall

And there’s more to come. We are currently working on 4 tables for Princeton, which will be delivered in February.

Whenever we can, we like to deliver our furniture ourselves. It’s not really practical most of the time, but when an order is going to southern Maine, or New Hampshire, or if it requires installation we prefer to provide that service ourselves. There’s nothing better than face-to-face contact with our customers. And to be there in person when they see their furniture for the first time is well worth the time it takes to leave the workshop and spend a day on the road, or two.

Last week we had that opportunity once again. An order for some home library and office pieces was due at our customer’s home on Long Island, and all pieces required some detailed installation work. Who better to do that than Bill Huston himself, and Saer too? It’s a long drive to Long Island from Kennebunkport. And there’s a ferry ride involved. So this was an overnight expedition.

Below are some photos of the finished furniture. It took a good part of a day to get the furniture in place, fitted and “wired” with lighting and cables for various media components. A few calls were made back to the workshop to confirm details here and there. The furniture was successfully installed and looks beautiful in its new home. Saer and Bill returned tired, but pleased with the overall result.