Modern times make disposal easy – change is something we’ve come to expect. Our tastes are not just influenced by the times in which we grew up or by local styles and materials. They’re touched by cultures far and wide, by places we’ve been and seen, and by what new forms technology allows. And so, things are made to be outgrown, and craftsmanship and durability are often among the first costs cut in mass production.
These two factors are precisely what set Alice Busch’s companies, Great Falls Distinctive Interiors and Exclusive Draperies and Upholstery Inc., apart. Old World European craftsmanship and sturdy, top-quality materials come together with a thorough customization process to create sofas, ottomans, chaises, and other precious pieces that will last entire lifetimes.
The Indestructible Sofa
“Good quality ages well,” Busch says. “When you walk into an old [well-built] house, you can feel its strength.” This is not unlike the feeling you have when you sink into one of their custom pieces. One feels cradled, taken care of – it’s the crème de la crème of personal comfort.
Their concept was inspired more than 20 years ago by what Busch calls “the sofa we couldn’t kill.” With a family full of four active boys, it was not for lack of trying. The sofa has been reupholstered, but even the original fabric hadn’t frayed in its first decades of hard use. Now it belongs to one of her sons, and every bone of the original sofa is still set squarely in place.
She has since brought in a master craftsman, Istvan Szabo, who learned his trade in Hungary and has been with the company for five years. For Szabo, woodworking is in the blood. He doesn’t always hand carve the intricate edge around the base of a sofa he builds, but he does shape and finish the elegant feet. He hand ties the springs and fastens the joints tightly with wooden dowels. He measures and re-measures the sofa’s every square inch, learning its lines, curves, and dimensions inside and out. He uses three types of wood – poplar, oak, and pine – in careful proportion at different structural points to maximize the material strength of each. Years after finishing a piece, he’s able to instantly recognize his own work in a room full of furniture. It’s an art, and it can’t quite be imitated.
Starting From Scratch
Creating unusually comfortable furniture requires some critical thought. For Busch, who has a background in psychology, it means knowing how people prefer to sit and then designing an item versatile enough to please everyone in the family. As Szabo completes a 48” deep sofa to be finished in simple white muslin, Busch explains that people don’t sit and read or watch movies with their feet on the floor. “You curl your legs up to the side,” she says, and continues that on a typical sofa knees would hang awkwardly off the edge.
She encourages clients – including professional athletes who are large in stature – to indulge in a sofa that is deeply set. This allows you to settle in completely, and bolster or kidney pillows can be used to accommodate smaller bodies or for formal sitting. A deep sofa can also double as a guest bed – the one pictured is just 1” narrower than a standard twin mattress.
The sofa’s angle of incline is another consideration. Busch’s mother, for example, prefers to have her posture reinforced at all times; in the car, at a desk, while watching television. Her furniture is nearly perpendicular. Many of the pieces Busch designs have a softer incline, allowing one to lean back or support posture with pillows.
Filling is another variable to customize – she’s designed furniture for couples who differ dramatically from each other in size, and often the accommodating factor is the softness or firmness of the cushions’ fill. The cushions on one side may have a different fill proportion (more or less down, for example) from those on the other side, so one family member can sink in while another sits forward, but no one’s comfort is made to suffer.
Busch measures the distance from hip to knee. She asks her clients how they actually sit, not how they were taught to sit. She listens to them and notes how they interact with each other. In some cases, her well-designed sofas have served as valuable tools for compromise in family life. “It makes a difference,” she says.
Icing on the Cake
After the wood has been stained and the furniture expertly upholstered, the finishing touches are applied. A sewing workspace is onsite, where pillows are crafted from golden raw silks, chiffons, velvets, and satins. Exquisitely pleated, ruched, quilted, or trimmed, the craftsmanship of each hand-sewn pillow is impeccable.
The sister companies are housed in the same building. Gorgeous fabrics are draped around the workspace. Photographs of past creations are proudly displayed on the walls.
Thoroughness defines the companies’ craft. Whether designing the complete interior of a home or designing the ottoman upon which a homeowner will rest his or her feet, Busch is a keen observer and a quick study when it comes to people. She learns the client from tip to toe and brings that information to the drawing board. Making furniture to last for generations is not a cheap, quick process – it’s a labor of expertise and detail. The resulting pieces are ones to be treasured, admired, and tested with decades of use – long after the kids have grown and gone. ws
