Friday, June 17, 2016

Langhorne Carpets Does Bring Barbra Streisand Flowers



When internationally eminent songstress, director and actor Barbra Streisand recently posted a Happy Birthday message to her beloved Coton de Tuléar Samantha, observant Instagrammers noticed a certain detail in the image. Streisand’s sweet little white companion, making her best puppy-dog eyes beside of white peonies, was  also posing atop a wonderful rosebud-dappled carpet—made in Langhorne’s very own Wilton Jacquard mill.

Longtime Langhorne customer, interior designer Marcy Monheit of Rydal, PA, brought the photo of the lucky dog, nicknamed “Sammie,” to the Morrows’ attention.




“I’ve been buying from Bill [Morrow] for years and years and years,” said Monheit. Although the East Coast designer’s tastes tend more toward Langhorne’s Leopard, Zebra, Cosmos, Herringbone and Stria Cuillere lines, she instantly recognized the classic floral pattern of Ms. Streisand’s carpet. “It’s one of the Langhorne carpets my mother’s interior designer used in the house I grew up in,” she said.

The pattern is part of the Nantucket line, currently available through custom order. The Morrows are unsure how, exactly, the work of their heritage mill came to inhabit one of Ms. Streisand’s homes. But they would like to extend a formal invitation for the diva herself to come visit their headquarters anytime—including when she’s in town for her August 20 concert at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. Naturally, Sammie is invited, too.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Langhorne Carpet Cares: Supporting Baltimore’s Magnificent Carroll Mansion Makeover


Our latest ‘Carpets of Caring’ philanthropic partnership is with the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization Made: In America (www.madeinamerica-usa.org) and Baltimore-area university architecture and design students. They collaborated to transform Maryland’s esteemed Carroll Mansion, a gem of Federalist architecture that belonged to the last-surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Carroll Mansion is one of Baltimore’s most beloved historic homes. Langhorne was honored to play a role, along with other fine American artisans, the structure’s magnificent makeover into an “All American House,” the result of a student competition to transform the manse into a home befitting a seamelss modern lifestyle. The students’ challenge: Outfit the home in only American-made furnishings, coverings and accessories—and create a look that suits both the home’s Federalist bones and more contemporary styles.

We provided two Jacquard Wilton woven wool 9-by-16 carpets: one in custom brown and gray from our Moiré line, and the other in similar colorways in Willow, a pattern that just so happened to be created by a textile design student at Philadelphia University as part of the Morrow Design Competition in Philadelphia. We think our donated carpets look spectacular serving as a baseline for pieces by more than a dozen other American manufacturers.


How did Made: In America, which promotes American manufacturing and competitiveness, find us? We’ll let CEO James DeLorbe tell you. “We were searching for a high-end U.S. manufacturer making the likes of what would be found in Carroll Mansion,” he said, “To our great pleasure, we learned that not only was Langhorne based in the U.S., but in nearby Pennsylvania—and making heirloom quality carpets of the type Charles Carroll himself would have specified for his Baltimore mansion.”

“Student designers in the design competition to create the All American House specified two beautiful carpets, one for the Family Room, and one that would be the focus point of a special exhibition room containing rare and unique home furnishings made in America. We were especially impressed by the Morrow family’s over 80-year commitment to manufacturing in the U.S., to their employees and to their community. It truly represents the essence of the American spirit of hard work—what an inspiring story.”

As you may know, we’ve been weaving museum-quality Jacquard Wilton wool carpets over the decades as historic reproductions. Philadelphia’s Congress Hall, Wilmington’s Winterthur Country Estate, Blair House in Washington, D.C., the Old Boston State House and many more historically significant American homes and buildings all feature Langhorne carpets. Every one woven in America.

Note: The exhibit, located at 800 E. Lombard St.,  will be on display until July 10. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.